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Astronomy and the Bible

Lick OBbEk\ aiory. Mount Hamilton, California

ASTRONOMY
and the BIBLE

THE EMPIRE OF CREATION SEEN IN

THE DUAL LIGHT OF SCIENCE AND

THE WORD

7

LUCAS A. REED, M. S.

"Teach me your mood, O patient stars.

Who climb each night the ancient sky.
Leaving on space no shade, no scars.
No trace of age, no fear to die."

PACIFIC PRESS PUBLISHING ASSN.,
Mountain View, Cal.

Kansas City, Mo. Portland, Ore. Brookfield, 111.

St. Paul, Minn. Cristobal, Canal Zone

Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Copyright 1919, by
Pacific Press Publishing Association

Preface

The writer of the following pages, throughout his
active life, has been a close student of nature, and the
starry universe all about us has had its full share of
his attention. He has gathered a fine assemblage of
most entertaining facts ; and the reader, whether a be-
liever in the Bible or not, will be interested in observing
that the astronomy of the Bible is far in advance of the
time in which it was written, for only after some of the
latest research with telescope, spectroscope, and camera,
have seemingly obscure and meaningless passages of
the Bible been understood.

Dr. Reed has been a popular writer for magazines,
as well as of books ; and one of his major themes has
been the astronomy of the Bible. The popularity of his
astronomy magazine articles, and the urgent demand
that many of them be printed over and over again, has
led to the preparation of this book.

Vibrant in the pages that follow is the sentiment of
the inspired poet that "the heavens declare the glory
of God; and the firmament showeth His handiwork.
Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night
showeth knowledge. There is no speech nor language ;
their voice is not heard. Their line is gone out through
all the earth, and their words to the end of the world.
In them hath He set a tabernacle for the sun." Ps.
19:1-4.

The invisible God, whose glory is too bright for sin-
ful, weakened mortal eye, may be clearly seen through

7

8 PREFACE

the things He has made ; for the apostle is bold to de-
clare that "that which is known of God is manifest in
them; for God manifested it unto them. For the in-
visible things of Him since the creation of the world
are clearly seen, being perceived through the things
that are made, even His everlasting power and divin-
ity." Rom. 1 : 19, 20.

The universe is not a mere jumble of suns and
worlds, a freak of chance operating blindly through the
undirected laws of nature ; neither are some of the suns
and worlds about us "young" and growing toward the
strength of manhood life and power, while others arc
"old" and waxing to decay; but the omnipotent hand
of God is behind all of His works, and His infinite in-
telligence is directing every star and world and all of
the forces of nature in earth and sea and sky.

The marshaling of the facts and of the scriptures
which show that God is intelligently, actively, and lov-
ingly at work through all of the operations of nature,
will be found a constant delight, inspiration, and satis-
faction to the reader. God so loves us that He seeks
to touch us through many avenues. H He is not able
to appeal to us through His written Word, He thea
appeals through the forces of nature. He speaks to us
by means of sun and moon and all the retinue of celes-
tial orbs, so that He may lead us to touch and to know
His invisible presence through His visible creation.

One cannot fail to be impressed with the truth and
the dependableness of the infinite Creator as he beholds
His handiwork in the numberless stars and the orderly
movement of all the stellar worlds. The joys and the

PREFACE 9

soul rest that come through actually knowing God and
being in touch with Him by a living experience are
beyond our powers to describe, but nevertheless we
may know them and find perfect rest under the ever
pervading shadow of the Almighty.

That those who do know God may have their ap-
preciation of Him intensified, and that those who do
not know Him may be introduced to Him through the
pages that follow, is the earnest wish of

The Publishers.

Contents

CHAPTER PAGE

I Astronomy and the Bible - - 17

II Astronomy and Faith - - 24

III Science and the Bible - - - 31

IV The Atmospheric Heavens - 41

V The Power of Gravitation - - 53

VI The Transfer of Energy - - 63

VII The Center of the Universe - 75

VIII The Earth in Space - - 81

IX The Impress of Light - - - 87

X Celestial Magnitudes - - 105

XI The Infinitude of Space - - 122

XII As THE Moon _ . - - 127

XIII Stars Innumerable - - - 133

XIV The Fixed Stars _ _ _ 143

XV The Bands of Orion - - - 159

XVI Arcturus with His Sons - - 170

XVII The Gospel of Despair - - - 177

XVIII Difference in Glory - - - 186

XIX The Vastness of His Power - - 200

XX His Definite Foreknowledge - 207

XXI The Clock of the Universe - - 215

XXII God's Dwelling Place, Where? - 223

XXIII The Open Space in Orion - - 236

XXIV Rolled Together as a Scroll - 258

Illustrations

Lick Observatory, Mount Hamilton, Cal., Frontispiece

OPPOSITE PAGE

Omega Centauri __--_-- i6

The Head of a Comet ------ 17

The Southern Cross ------ 32

Yerkes Observatory, Lake Geneva, Wisconsin - 33

A Peculiar Nebular Formation in Cygnus - - 48

Region of the North American Nebula - - 49

The Land of the Midnight Sun - _ - - 64

A Typical Sun Spot — Highly Magnified - - 65

Nebula in Triangulum ------ 80

The Andromeda Nebula ------ 81

Eclipse of the Sun ------- 96

The Cold Atmosphere of Winter - - - - 97

At the Eyepiece of a Large Telescop;-: - - - 112

A Segment of the Corona of the Sun - - - 113

The Moon in the Eighteen-Day Phase - - - 128

Halley's Comet, as Seen in the Early Morning - 129

Great Star Cloud in Sagittarius _ - - - 144

Region of the Great Nebula of Rho Ophiuchi - 145
Motion of Arcturus - - - - - - -150

Brooks's Comet as Seen Just Before Dawn - - 160

The Constellation Pleiades, Showing Nebulosity - 161

Diagram of the Pleiades _ - - _ _ 164

Nebula in Cygnus ------- 176

The Surface of the Moon - - - - - • i77

SiRius, A Celestial Furnace - - - - - 192

The 36-INCH Lick Telescope ----- 193

Breaking Through the Mist ----- 208

Nebula in Ursa Major ------ 209

The Sword and Belt of Orion ----- 224

The Spiral Nebula of Canes Venatici - - - 225

Saturn Rising -------- 240

The Firmament of Saturn ----- 240

Air in Motion -------- 241

Orion's Nebula as Shown by Photography - - 256

Another View of the Nebula in Orion - - - 257
xii

Introduction

For eight years, Kepler sought unceasingly, with
unremitting toil, to solve the law of planetary motion.
During those years, he tried nineteen different hypothe-
ses. One after another of these he was compelled to
lay aside as not conforming to the motion of the plan-
ets. His courage and patience transfigured failure
into success. When, after days of study and nights of
observation, the months showed a theory untenable, he
turned from it without regret, knowing that there was
one less theory to try. At last, he was compelled to
give up every theory of the circle as the explanation of
orbital motion. He then chose the next to the circle
in simplicity, the ellipse. Here he found all the con-
ditions met. The problem at last was solved, and he
cried, "O almighty God, I am thinking Thy thoughts
after Thee !" When he had established his second and
third laws, and written his exposition of them, he
said : "My book is written to be read either now or by
posterity; I care not which. It may well wait a cen-
tury for a reader, since God has waited six thousand
years for an observer."

Thus in a realization that the scientist is but tracing
the handwriting of the Creator, and with an abiding
faith that His writing is intelligible, and contains a
divine message, did such men as Kepler and Newton
lay the foundations of our present knowledge.

Some of the men accounted great to-day — mere
pygmies compared with the men just mentioned —

13

14 INTRODUCTION

have the effrontery to tell us that they see in the
heavens no trace of a God. But in making such a
statement, they but confess their own blindness and
dumbness. They are like one who cannot read, point-
ing at the letters of the printed page, and saying there
is no trace of knowledge or intelligence there.

To disbelieve in God, a man must believe in a thou-
sand anomalies which he cannot reconcile with reason ;
and he must accept contradictions and improbabilities
without number. He must assume that effects are
greater than their causes ; that the greatest effects are
without any cause at all ; in fact, that something, and
a mighty something at that, came from nothing.

That he may not see evidences of God, the atheist
must close his eyes to the light which shines upon him
everywhere, from sun and stars, and reflected from
satellite and planet, and that also gleams from the eyes
of countless intelligent creatures in the world about
him.

That he may not hear the message of God in nature,
he must close his ears to the voices that sound in crea-
tion's harmonies, from the hum of insects and the
songs of the birds, up to that silent thunder of un-
counted worlds and suns and systems which pour into
the ear of the soul the mighty music of the spheres.

The irreligious scientist is a contradiction. The un-
devout astronomer has become spiritually deranged. A
study of nature will soften and subdue man's heart,
if he does not stubbornly harden it. Astronomy will
give to the man who rightly studies the wonders of the
heavens a modesty and humility regarding his own at-

INTRODUCTION 15

tainments, and an admiration and devotion for the
One whose works declare the grandeur and the glory
of His holy and exalted personality; and he will turn
with added confidence and joy to the Book that ex-
plains all. Thus will he know the blessing gained by
a study of astronomy and the Bible.

Lucas A. Reed.

Creation

The spacious firmament on high,

With all the blue, ethereal sky.

The spangled heavens, a shining frame,

Their great Original proclaim;

Th' unwearied sun, from day to day,

Does his Creator's power display,

And publishes to every land

The work of an almighty hand.

Soon as the evening shades prevail.
The moon takes up the wondrous tale,
And nightly, to the listening earth
Repeats the story of her birth;
While all the stars that round her burn.
And all the planets in their turn,
Confirm the tidings as they roll.
And spread the truth from pole to pole.

What though in solemn silence, all
Move round the dark terrestial ball?
What though no real voice or sound
Amid their radiant orbs be found?
In reason's ear they all rejoice.
And utter forth a glorious voice.
Forever singing, as they shine.
The hand that made us is divine."

— Joseph Addison.

j6

Omega Centauri

One of the many star clusters, each composed of immense

glowing suns far larger than our own.

2a

The Head of a Comet

This drawing gives one an idea of the size of a comet as

compared with the earth. The brightest spot in the head of a

comet is called the nucleus ; surrounding this are layers of

luminous matter, from which the tail streams away.

:^, v^t-v: v^^;^

s

^^J

^^

pi^

^v5^s^.-f^::-fl

^^^ra^

CHAPTER I

Astronomy and the Bible

OF all the sciences, astronomy makes the most
nearly universal appeal. Persons who have
little interest in even the common things about
them, are nevertheless often deeply interested in know-
ing something of those heavenly lights which shine
down upon them.

What are these stars ? Are they other worlds at all
like ours? How many of them are inhabited? What
of their distance and of the scale on which the universe
is built? What is that large red star, and this bright
white one? What is the Milky Way? Why does the
North Star always remain north?

These and countless more questions rise at once
when the subject is introduced. All these questions are
worthy of a careful answer. The science of astronomy
deserves to be understood. And of its large and most
important features, every student may gain some defi-
nite and useful knowledge.

To outline some of the principles of astronomy,
never exceeding the limit of true science, and to weigh,

17

18 ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE

in relation to those principles, the words of the Bible, —
these are our aims in this book. Such a view will not
narrow our conceptions of astronomy. We shall see,
before we are through with the study, that only thus
can we comprehend the grandeur, the dignity, the sub-
limity, the uplifting urge, of this important science.

Thus viewing it, we are carried back to the ages
when the universe began. We view the dawn of crea-
tion. We hear the first whisper of the creative word.
We see the first appearings of the material world under
the manifestations of divine energy.

Thus, too, we learn how the mighty universe is sus-
tained. We contemplate its complicated mechanism
of wheel within wheel rolling on in the deeps of
space, as age follows age. We gaze with eager eyes
into the ages to come. We behold order and system
and ever advancing variety and magnitude. We pon-
der the might of immensity and the greatness of eter-
nity. The finite mind expands, seeking evermore to
grasp the measures of the infinite.

Were it not for the Bible, our conceptions would
take in too little, even though we might be aided by
all the means and methods of modern astronomy. In
the Word, our vague guesses and groping questions
are answered by the most daring of revelations, the
grandest of delineations, the most sublime of state-
ments.

Indeed, no one can rightly understand astronomy,
aside from the Bible. This is paramountly true,
whether we contemplate the beginnings of things,
"when the morning stars sang together, and all the

ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE 19

sons of God shouted for joy," or run forward In
thought to the coming age, when there shall rise a
new heaven and a new earth, and the former things
shall have passed away.
1/^ The Bible is the supreme textbook. Like a tower-
ing rock that fronts the sea, its granite wall is forever
receiving the onslaught of the waves. One moment,
the waters strike upon its fending sides, and break in
forceless spray ; the next, the sunbeams touch and
transfigure the old water-washed rock with diamond
gleams of light. Thus, with radiant and unbroken
front, the Word stands immovable through the ages,
our wall of protection from error and folly. That
mighty wall of truth remains impregnable to-day as
ever.

There is no controversy between true science and the \
Bible. Both are manifestations of divine truth. True '
science but makes more brilliant the gems of Holy
Writ ; and the Bible ever guides the mind more deeply
and sublimely into the wonders of true science. Each
is the handmaid of the other. In the Bible, we find
the great principles of truth; in nature, we find facts
that explain, illustrate, and make clear the truth of,
the Word.

Truth is a unit. It is not separate, antagonistic
things. Though manifold — indeed, infinite — in the
variety of its manifestation, it is one harmonious sys-
tem. And this one truth, revealed in the Bible, "is
reflected as from a mirror, in the face of nature."

This complete revelation of truth, inspiration calls
''the Word." And the term "word," or "logos," im-

20 ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE

plies that a mind has expressed itself, not merely in
words, but in "the Word" ; that is to say, a symmetri-
cal whole. But the mind that has thus expressed itself
is the divine mind; and its expression is a manifesta-
tion of realities.

It is "the Word," for it speaks. It produces reali-
ties; for that Word is creative, pouring forth divine
energy. It spoke at creation ; and what it commanded,
obeyed by existing. That Word said, "Let light be ;"
and light was. The Bible may give us in words "the
Word" of God; but that Word is also manifested in
the world it created and still sustains. If in nature
there is anything not produced and sustained by "the
Word," it is but some temporary thing, the result of
some other mind, a mind antagonistic to the divine
mind. And this transient element, discerned by its
vanity and falsity, will eventually pass away. But
"the Word" of God, and He who is in that Word, and
makes it vital, efficient, and substantial, will abide for-
ever.

As words express the thoughts, or mind, of a man,
so "the Word" expresses, reveals, discloses the divine
mind. The Bible is the echo of the divine mind, and
so it is called "the Word of God." When it is minis-
tered to us by the Spirit, it becomes at once the living,
acting Word of God; and such it is truly called.
Christ is the revelation, the "outgoing," of God's mind,
or character; and therefore He is called "the Logos,"
or "Word." John i : 1-3. And nature, too, though
clouded by sin, is a panorama of God's thoughts to
His creatures, and hence is called "the other word."

ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE 21

In Christ, the personified Word, ''are hid all the
treasures of wisdom and knowledge." Col. 2 : 3.
Think of the all-comprehending meaning of the mar-
velous expression, "all the treasures of wisdom and
knowledge." These treasures include all the unsearch-
able and unfathomable deeps of the divine mind. In-
spiration, catching in one glimpse the infinitude of
these treasures, cries out, "O the depth of the riches
both of the wisdom and knowledge of God!" Rom.

II -33-

O the depth indeed!

And all this knowledge and wisdom, all indeed that
there is, has been revealed to us in Jesus Christ. He
Himself says, "All things that the Father hath are
Mine." John 16:15. These "all things," the Spirit
receives to show to the disciples of Christ.

And what a comprehending sweep of things is in-
cluded in that expression, "all things that the Father
hath" ! How much has He ? Look yonder into the
heavens. Behold a thousand suns rolling in the abyss
of space; and around them, held by them, attendant
worlds teeming with life and beauty — stars upon
stars, and worlds upon worlds, universe beyond uni-
verse, creation beyond creation. All that we see is
but a tiny suburb of the great creation.

We take a five-inch glass and look at one mere spot
in the heavens. Wonder of wonders ! It is trans-
formed into hundreds of suns, so closely studded to-
gether that we cannot number them.

We find a stronger glass. Still other suns appear,
suns upon suns, as the sands of the seashore, innumer-

22 ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE

able. It is impossible to pierce to the outer bounds
of the gleaming stars ; for still we see lights gleaming
from beyond, where all grows cloudy and obscure.

All are Christ's. The fullness of God is there, the
complete revelation, all the treasures of wisdom and
knowledge, all the deeps of infinite thought and action.

Then the Bible must be our aid in the study of all
science, astronomy included; for the Bible is our only
means of intelligently receiving and knowing Christ.
And these treasures "in Him" include all the treasures
of truth, all forms of true science. The word "all"
bars any exceptions.

This is not to say that the Bible contains every pos-
sible phrasing of truth, or every single detail of it.
We are told that if all that Jesus did were written, it
is supposed that even the world could not contain the
books that should be written. Yet His life, the unity,
the completeness of His life, is contained in the Bible.
That the world could not contain all the books that
might be written of His life, is because the principles
represented are manifestations of infinite truth; and
infinite truth, to be fully expressed, requires infinite
expression. But thus infinitely expressed, all truth
would fill the world, and, indeed, the universe itself;
and would fill it not only now, but throughout eternity.

Yet in the Bible, in principles of infinite meaning, in
words of never ending import, is recorded the all-
wisdom of God. All that is of God is in the Word.
It is locked in comprehensive statements that cannot
fail to be understood, yet so richly stored that they be-
come treasures as inexhaustible as eternity and God.

ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE 23

To survey them adequately, demands capacity most
mighty and Hves immortal, with means of reaching and
observing unhampered His ever expanding domains.

But remember that even now we have in the Bible
all the great principles included in these things. In
the Bible, they have been committed to man. True,
they are locked in the storehouse; but God has given
us the key. They are hidden; but He has told us to
seek, and we shall find. Though the door is closed,
it will be opened to us if we knock.

For this, the study of astronomy and the study of
the Bible are combined. We mention astronomy first,
not because it is first in importance, but because we
give it here the most attention. This book is not pri-
marily a study of the Bible, but a study of astronomy.
Yet throughout, we seek the aid of the sublime words
of Sacred Writ. And we find a better understanding
of the Bible through the light that science gives.

May all our science study be after this manner!
Let us search both nature and the Word as for hidden
treasure. God Himself will be the Teacher; His Word
will be our textbook; His works, our field of observa-
tion ; His everlasting habitations, our schoolroom ; and
eternity, the term of our pupilage.

Thus our lives will grow richer and happier, our
minds more vigorous and comprehending, while our
vision ''forever widens with the process of the suns."

L

CHAPTER II

Astronomy and Faith

4 4"]f IFT up your eyes on high, and behold who
hath created these things, that bringeth out
their host by number : He calleth them all by
names by the greatness of His might, for that He is
strong in power ; not one f aileth." Isa. 40 : 26.

This is God's invitation to the study of astronomy.
Every one should study this science. It is the most
delightful and the most inspiring of all the sciences. It
elevates and broadens the mind. It rouses and directs
the imagination. It gives man a truer idea both of
himself and of his Creator. And in a better under-
standing of God, science finds its true service.

When we find that the stars are unmeasured dis-
tances from us, and that they are innumerable, span-
gUng the heavens with jets of radiance infinite in
number, we are in better condition of mind to realize
the glory of Him who brings "out their host by num-
ber," calling "them all by names."

And viewing their eternal constancy, as they move
undeviatingly in their orbits, we shall perceive back of

24

ASTRONOMY AND FAITH 25

them the power of God that forever keeps them as
they are, "by the greatness of His might, for that He
is strong in power ; not one f aileth."

Rarely nowadays is astronomy studied with any such
purpose as is here indicated. Yet, if not so studied, it
fails of its highest purpose. In fact, divorced from
thoughts of God, it can only discourage man, because
of his infinite littleness in contrast with the grand
immensity of the universe, into believing that he is a
forgotten atom in the dust cloud of the cosmos; or
encourage him into thinking that he knows a trifle more
than his fellows, and that he, with his giant ( ?) intel-
lect, can delve into the profundities of space, and com-
prehend the infinite. Thus he is puffed up with pride
and self-complacency.

Some one has said that "the undevout astronomer is
mad" — mad because, with such a spectacle before
him, he is still undevout. H our study of astronomy
cannot put some devout thoughts and feelings into
our souls, it has proved to us quite a failure.

And while this view of nature as a means of quick-
ening faith seems a reasonable one to take as the in-
tent of astronomical study, nevertheless there are per-
sons who will oppose this idea. However, there are
those who have gained distinction as scientists and
astronomers, who view the subject in this attitude of
faith and reverence. A few quotations from some of
these may have an influence in starting us in the right
direction.

"The great dome of the sky, filled with glittering
stars, is one of the most sublime spectacles in nature.

26 ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE

. . . Some shine with a vivid hght, perpetually chang-
ing and twinkling; others, more constant, beam softly
and tranquilly upon us; while many just tremble into
our sight, like a wave that, struggling to reach some
far-off land, dies as it touches the shore.

"In the presence of such weird and wondrous beauty,
the tenderest sentiments of the heart are aroused. A
feeling of awe and reverence,' of softened melancholy
mingled with a thought of God, comes over us, and
awakens the better nature within us." — Joel Dorman
Steele, Ph. D.

Another has said that as w^e study astronomy, "the
common authorship of the worlds and the Word be-
comes apparent; their common unexplorable wealth is
a necessary conclusion." — Henry White Warren, D. D.

Both of the writers quoted above are the authors
of textbooks on astronomy. The latter of the two did
not fail, in his "Recreations in Astronomy," to carry
out the principles he states.

Herschel, one of the greatest of astronomers, has
said, "All human discoveries seem to be made only
for the purpose of confirming more strongly the truths
that come from on high and are contained in the
Sacred Writings."

And General Mitchel, astronomer, and moving spirit
in the building of the observatory on Mount Adams,
near Cincinnati, has spoken words that should never
be forgotten:

"If there be anything which can lead the mind up-
ward to the omnipotent Ruler of the universe, and
give to it approximate knowledge of His incomprehen-

ASTRONOMY AND FAITH 27

sible attributes, it is to be found in the grandeur and
beauty of His works.

"If you would know His glory, examine the inter-
minable range of suns and systems which crowd the
Milky Way., Multiply the hundred millions of stars
which belong to our own 'island universe' by the thou-
sands of these astral systems that exist in space, within
the range of human vision, and then you may form
some idea of the infinitude of His kingdom; for, lo!
these are but a part of His ways. Examine the scale
on which the universe is built. Comprehend, if you
can, the vast dimensions of our sun. Stretch outward
through his system, from planet to planet, and cir-
cumscribe the whole within the immense circumference
of Neptune's orbit. This is but a single unit out of
the myriads of similar systems. Take the wings of
light, and flash with impetuous speed day and night,
and month and year, till youth shall wear away, and
middle age is gone, and the extremest limit of human
life has been attained; count every pulse, and at each
speed on your way a hundred thousand miles; and
when a hundred years have rolled by, look out, and
behold ! the thronging milHons of blazing suns are still
around you, each separated from the other by such a
distance that in this journey of a century you left
only half a score behind you.

"Would you gather some idea of the eternity past
of God's existence, go to the astronomer, and bid him
lead you with him in one of his trips through space;
and as he sweeps upward from object to object, from
universe to universe, remember that the light from

28 ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE

those filmy stains in the deep pure blue heaven, now
falling on your eye, has been traversing space for un-
numbered years.

"Would you gather some knowledge of the omnipo-
tence of God, weigh the earth in which we dwell, then
count the millions of its inhabitants that have come
and gone for the last six thousand years. Unite their
strength into one arm, and test its power in an effort
to move this earth. It could not stir it a single foot
in a thousand years; and yet under the omnipotent
hand of God, not a minute passes that the earth does
not fly for more than a thousand miles. But this is
a mere atom; the most insignificant point among His
innumerable worlds. At His bidding every planet and
satellite and comet, and the sun himself, fly onward
in their appointed courses. His single arm guides the
millions of sweeping suns, and around His throne
circles the great constellation of unnumbered universes.

"Would you comprehend the idea of the omniscience
of God, remember that the highest pinnacle of knowl-
edge reached by the whole human race, by the com-
bined efforts of its brightest intellects, has enabled
the astronomer to compute approximately the per-
turbations of the planetary worlds. He has predicted
roughly the return of half a score of comets. But
God has computed the mutual perturbations of mil-
lions of suns, and planets and comets and worlds with-
out number, through the ages that are passed and
throughout the ages that are yet to come, not approxi-
mately, but with perfect and absolute precision. The
universe is in motion — system rising above system.

ASTRONOMY AND FAITH 29

cluster above cluster, nebula above nebula, — all ma-
jestically sweeping around under the providence of
God, who alone knows the end from the beginning,
and before whose glory and power all intelligent be-
ings, whether in heaven or earth, should bow with
humility and awe.

"Would you gain some idea of the wisdom of God,
look to the admirable adjustments of the magnificent
retinue of planets and satellites which sweep around
the sun. Every globe has been weighed and poised,
every orbit has been measured and bent to its beautiful
form. All is changing, but the laws fixed by the wis-
dom of God, though they permit the rocking to and
fro of the system, never introduce disorder, or lead
to destruction. All is perfect and harmonious, and
the music of the spheres that burn and roll around our
sun, is echoed by that of ten millions of moving worlds,
that sing and shine around the bright suns that reign
above.

"If overwhelmed with the grandeur and majesty of
the universe of God, we are led to exclaim with the
Hebrew poet king, 'When I consider Thy heavens, the
work of Thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which
Thou hast ordained ; what is man, that Thou art mind-
ful of him? and the son of man, that Thou visitest
him?' If fearful that the eye of God may overlook
us in the immensity of His kingdom, we have only to
call to mind that other passage : Thou hast made him
a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him
with glory and honor. Thou madest him to have do-
minion over the works of Thy hands ; Thou hast put all

30 ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE

things under his feet.' Such are the teachings of the
Word, and such are the lessons of the works of God."

"Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath
created these things." These are the divine words
that are chiseled upon a marble tablet in the wall of
the astronomical observatory at Williams College.
No more appropriate words for such a building could
be chosen. They are the prophet's call to the skeptics
of his time, and they are as forceful to-day as they
were then. When a French infidel said to a Vendean
peasant, ''We will pull down your churches, destroy
your pictures, and demolish everything that reminds
you of God," the peasant repHed^ "But you will leave
us the stars."

Yes, the stars speak to us of God. The French of-
ficers could dispute and deny the existence of a Crea-
tor as they sailed down the Mediterranean beneath
the splendors of the evening skies; but when Napo-
leon, wearied of their babble, pointed upward to the
myriad stars above them, and said, "All very well,
gentlemen ; but who made these ?" they were silent, as
all atheists must be.

"Lift up your eyes on high, and behold" — this is
the study of astronomy. And herein we find our field
of observation; namely, that of the unmeasured uni-
verse, with its glories of shining suns and rolling
worlds. "Who hath created these things?" — this is
the question the study should arouse. And thus we
find the purpose of astronomy; namely, to reveal the
greatness and goodness of God.

CHAPTER III

Science and the Bible

WHEN, upon a cloudless, moonless night, we
look above us into the overarching heavens,
we are charmed by the spectacle of many
points of light, scintillating and quivering in the deeps
of the sky.

We say to ourselves : Can any one really tell us aught
about these and how they came there? What is their
purpose and what their destiny? Did they at some
time come into being, or did they always exist? And
what shall be their end, if any end for them there be?
It is true that science alone can partly answer some
of these questions; yet some of the more important
she cannot answer at all. But as we delve into these
problems of astronomy, we discover that the Bible says
something decisive about them. We find it speaking
with authority in the realm of science. Thus we
soon learn that both science and the Bible have
something to say w4th reference to the answers; and
as we carefully go to both for knowledge, we become
consistent in our study of astronomy and the Bible.

31

32 ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE

For example, we ask, What is the origin of the uni-
verse? The scientist, unaided by the Word, searches
all parts of the universe that are available to his tests.
He computes the times or movements, the paths or
directions, the powers or velocities, of the stars within
the reach of his instruments. He multiplies instances.
He compares one with another. He computes into the
hundreds of years. He goes back in times past. He
reckons forward into times to come.

When he has satisfied every element of the problem,
which is to him wholly a mathematical one, he avers :
"There is no danger of collision or of interference
among any of the heavenly bodies. Though their paths
cross, though their orbits often interweave, yet each
heavenly body always moves in such a way and place
as in no wise to jeopardize itself or its fellows.
Everywhere is perfect order. So far as I can see, the
universe may go on as it is to all eternity. And so far
as I can reckon, it has been going on in this perfect
way from all eternity."

But in making this last statement, the scientist has
run into controversy with the Word of God. He has
contradicted the statements of the Bible. Thus we
are shown that the Bible is the great guide, after all,
in some of the important things of science.

In saying that the universe never had beginning,
the scientist denies the statement of Genesis, "In the
beginning God created." The Word admonishes us
to look up and behold the manifestations of a mighty
and orderly universe, but its appeal is to behold "who
hath created these things." He "bringeth out their

The Southern Cross

This beautiful constellation is a stranger to those dwelling in

the Northern Hemisphere. Note the immense

company of lesser stars.

Yerkes Observatory, Lake Geneva, Wisconsin

SCIENCE AND THE BIBLE 33

host by number;" that is to say, with mathematical
precision and order. He so brought them out in the
beginning — created them, or gave them existence.
And He still continues to bring them out ; that is, main-
tains their existence.

Or again, the scientist asserts that gravitation holds
all the heavenly bodies in place. And the Bible shows
that in this, the scientist has not thought deep enough.
We ask. What is gravitation? The scientist answers,
Gravitation is the attraction between the particles of
matter; it is the bond of relationship by which they
are held together. But we press the question. What
is this attraction? We find that his answer is merely
a description of the thing, and really no explanation
of it at all. "The attraction between particles of
matter" is but another name for gravitation. What is
gravitation — what is this attraction ? How and why
does it exist? In short, what causes the pull between
the particles?

Sir Isaac Newton demonstrated the existence of the
bond ; yet he did not explain its mystery, but confessed
to that mystery. He said that for a thing like gravi-
tation to exist was apparently unreasonable. "How
can anything be where it is not ?" How can one world
pull another world that is millions of miles away from
it ? How can it maintain an influence where it is not ?

Science alone has no answer, and she has no sug-
gestion of an answer. On a purely material basis, no
adequate answer can ever be proposed. Therefore
science does not pretend to answer, and she acknowl-
edges that she does not.

34 ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE

But in the Bible, we learn that this power is the
upholding power of the creative word. Heb. i : 1-3.
Thus the things that are made reveal the invisible
things of God, "even His eternal power." Rom. i : 20.
Gravitation is the power of God through Christ hold-
ing all things together ; that is, making them "consist."
Col. 1 : 17. It is out of God's unfailing might that they
endure. Isa. 40 : 26.

Even those most interested in teaching and believing
some other theory, have no real argument to offer
against the plain statements of the Word, except that
some other explanation than that given in the Scrip-
tures is more credible to them. One of the greatest
exponents of evolution could swallow the preposterous
idea that sometime in the remote ages of the past, life
sprang from no-life. Believing such an unscientific,
self-contradictory conception, he nevertheless admits
that science can really present nothing against the Bib-
lical idea of a personal Creator. We quote his words :

"If, ... in some indefinitely remote past seon, the
cosmic process was set going by some entity possessed
of intelligence and foresight, similar to our own in
kind, however superior in degree; if ... it is held
that every event, not merely in our planetary speck,
but in untold millions of other worlds, was foreknown
before these worlds were, — scientific thought, so far
as I know anything about it, has nothing to say against
that hypothesis." — Thomas Huxley, Fortnightly Re-
viezv, November, i8p2.

But though science can say nothing in denial of the
Word, the Word has something to say against such

SCIENCE AND THE BIBLE 35

science as Mr. Huxley too often believed and taught.
And true science, too, joins in the denial of his self-
evident errors. How, for example, can life come from
something that is not life? One of the highest laws
of his beloved evolution is the law of "conformity
to type"; that is to say, "Like begets like." Yet he
believed — because, and only because, he needed the
thing in his business — that something entirely dif-
ferent from life begot life.

The whole creation speaks, if it speaks at all, in a
way to demonstrate the statements of the Word.

There is, for example, no possible way for us to
conceive how the universe itself can maintain itself.
How can each and every particle of matter constantly
maintain an attractive energy for each and every other
particle of matter? How can this mighty flow of
power be maintained undiminished throughout the
ages? We cannot conceive of such a flow without an
idea of an adequate source from which it flows.

Again, the heavenly bodies are all in motion. That
motion is unceasing from age to age. The average is
constant. In the case of the rotation of the earth on
its axis, causing day and night, there is not the slight-
est variation in velocity, not by the fraction of a
second.

We know how difficult it is with us to maintain
motion. We must have some supply of energy by
which to accomplish it. But the stars drive on through
space with untiring power. Can they drive them-
selves? Even our automobiles, "self-moving ma-
chines," are in reality gasoline-moved machines. They

36 ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE

must be constantly supplied with the source of energy ;
and after a given length of time, the mechanism breaks
down.

We say again, On a material or mechanical basis
alone, there is no real explanation for this living, stir-
ring universe.

Take again the problem of the direction of the
stars. We see that everywhere there is wonderful
order. The universe is a delicately adjusted unit.
Every part is placed with perfect reference to every
other part. All are guided by perfection of wisdom.
Where does this wisdom reside? Does each sphere
contain its own intelligence? And if so, whence came
it, so that it should comprehend the entire universe,
and be always perfectly related to all the activities of
the cosmos ?

Then, too, there is the question, unanswered by
science, concerning the mystery of radiant energy.
The light of the stars shines on in unfailing luster
from age to age. What feeds the fiery flames ?

And with all the rest of the marvels, we contemplate
the wonder of the speed of light. It moves with the
enormous rapidity of 186,000 miles a second. That
is a distance equal to about 7% times around the world.
And all this in a second of time! One swing of the
pendulum, and light has swung 186,000 miles away.
Before you have read this sentence, it has traveled
more than 800,000 miles.

And the speed does not slacken with the distance
traveled. A man or a horse travels slower as the dis-
tance increases, until, without rest, motion ceases alto-

SCIENCE AND THE BIBLE 37

gether, the energy is exhausted. But Hght is still
speeding 186,000 miles a second when it has traveled
a thousand years. Time or distance makes no change
in its velocity.

There is a star yonder in the heavens. To come
from it to us, light must travel day and night for a
hundred years. When light left that star, it was travel-
ing 186,000 miles a second; and when it reaches the
earth after its century flight, it is still traveling 186,000
miles every second. There is no slowing up with the
distance traversed.

A fact like this can never be explained on any
purely material or mechanical basis. The cause of all
this flow of unflagging energy lies far back beyond the
measure of yardstick or balance arm, of telescope or
prism glass.

God is the cause of all, and He is invisible both to
the eye of man and to the instruments that man may
devise. Yet in the realm of spirit, we may seek and
find Him. He may be discovered by the eye of faith.
We may know Him not only as Originator and Up-
holder, but as God and Father. And finding and
knowing Him, we find and have the life eternal.

Thus we see that the Bible and science should not
be separated. Yet some may ask, In just what sense
does the Bible aid in the study of science?

In answering the question, shall we assume that the
Bible has nothing to do with science, and that science
has nothing to do with the Bible? Shall we accept
the position of Hugh Miller, the celebrated geologist,
that the Bible does not in any sense reveal the great

38 ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE

physical truths of nature, that science alone is fully
competent to discover these, and that therefore God
''left them to be developed piecemeal by the unassisted
human faculties"?

Not by any means.

We have found that those scientists who say that
the Bible and science have nothing to do with one an-
other are radically wrong. We know that certain so-
called scientific teachings are constantly coming into
clash with the statements of the Word. This of itself
must show that the Bible does say something on the
question; otherwise there would be no controversy.

Yet, while it is perhaps recognized or acknowledged
that there is some sort of relation between the two,
there is seen to be also somx sort of distinction or divi-
sion between them.

Now, the Bible, we know, does not answer all the
questions we might ask concerning nature. The Bible
does not record the distance from here to the sun. It
does not record the number of petals in a sweetbrier
rose, nor does it describe the notes of a lark.

If these things are not found in the Bible, where are
we to find them ? — In nature, of course. It is nature's
work to show forth facts. Nature is, indeed, but a
cosmos of facts or realities. And facts can best be
learned by observation, by acquaintanceship with them.
How could words present to you the song of the lark?
How could descriptions reveal the tender, ravishing
color of the rose?

But though nature teaches us facts, great guiding
principles, on the other hand, may be stated to us in

SCIENCE AND THE BIBLE 39

words. And this is what the Bible does for us. The
Bible contains the great principles that concern our
salvation. We may study the facts of the natural
world ; but when we seek to formulate a principle that
affects man's relation to his Creator, we at once come
within the jurisdiction of the Word of God.

And we assert, without fear of successful contradic-
tion, that wherever and however men draw conclusions
regarding the relation between God and His creation,
right there, always and forever, will be found some-
thing from God's Word confirming or denying the hu-
man conclusion.

This is infallibly true.

Fact is conformity to truth. When God stated the
infinite truth of the Word, He saw all the facts of
the universe that lay within the meaning of that truth,
and God's statement did not contradict a single truth,
and there was not a fact in the universe left unex-
plained by the truth. Truth is conformity to fact, and
fact is conformity to truth. The Bible is ''the truth,"
and nature consists of facts ; and so there is perfect
conformity between the Bible and nature. The facts
of nature illustrate the truth of the Bible, and the
Bible guides us in our contemplation of nature. Thus
each illuminates the other.

The Bible gives us, if you please, the working hy-
pothesis regarding all the fields of knowledge. If we
attempt to unite truth with error, or good with evil,
the statements of the Word drive a line of cleavage
between the two, separating them for us. Thus we
are kept from being ensnared. We are saved from

40 ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE

error, which is the perversion of truth; and we are
saved from evil, which is the perversion of good.

The study of astronomy in the Hght of the Bible
is therefore the only rational study of it. By a con-
templation of God's Word and His works, we shall
rise to a measure of real knowledge. We shall con-
stantly attain both wisdom and judgment. Thus we
shall never lose reverence for God nor confidence in
His Word.

CHAPTER IV

The Atmospheric Heavens

No one can have any adequate idea of astronomy
without some knowledge of the atmospheric
heavens. The ignorant in past ages may have
thought that the heavens encircling us were but plates
that held us in, parts of a huge crystal sphere.

Had the Bible expressed this childish idea, that
would at once suggest to us an earthly origin for the
book ; but though it was written in times when all sorts
of queer ideas were current, yet it is nowhere contami-
nated by the folly of the times.

Its pure stream flows unsullied down the ages. Its
adherence to truth is so close and unbroken that the
lives of some of its greatest men are told in all the
sorrow and shame of their sometime lapses into sin.

When the English translators a few centuries ago
rendered the Bible into English, they sometimes used
words more in harmony with their own ideas of science
and theology than with the original terms.

One example of this is found in the first chapter
of Genesis. "God made the firmament, and divided

41

42 ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE

the waters which were under the firmament from the
waters which were above the firmament." Gen. i : 7.
Thus, in a few words, the Bible records the creation
of that which scientific men call the atmosphere. It
gives a very simple description of a very complex
thing, yet it opens the very heart of the wonderful
fact.

This scripture, as well as the whole narrative of
creation, is intended for the instruction of all mankind,
and not of the learned reader only. Also, it is intended
for all mankind in every age of the world's history,
no matter what relative knowledge of science that age
may possess.

For a book like the Bible, addressed to the souls of
all mankind whatever their educational attainments,
no other course is possible or permissible. The lan-
guage must be so simple, must so touch the root idea
of things, that any man, or even a child, can gather
some knowledge of its meaning. At the same time,
the wording must be so clear and pure that no scien-
tific attainments, however great, shall ever be able
to reveal defect in it or to supersede it.

Such, we shall find, is this statement concerning the
creation of the atmosphere.

There have been times when men believed and
taught that the earth was flat. They thought then
that the heavens were a crystal dome resting on all
sides upon the firm support of the earth.

And some men in our days seek to show that the
w^ord "firmament" of the Scriptures means this same
thing. One writer, greatly impressed with his own

THE A TMOSPHERIC HE A VENS 43

narrow conceptions of the ancient Book, translates
the word "hammered plates." In so doing, he shows
more invention than knowledge.

The word raqia, from which "firmament" is trans-
lated, is from a root word meaning to hammer or
pound. The idea of "plates" is not in the original
word. It was wholly supplied by this modern skeptic.
To hammer metal out into plates is to cause it to ex-
pand; and so in time the word which at first meant
only to hammer, came to mean to expand.

Thus in the Hebrew language, the word has two
meanings; one, to hammer; and the other, to expand.
And that which was expanded was called raqia, an
expanse. But not once in the Hebrew Bible does
this word stand for our two English words "hammered
plates." In fact, there is no such expression as "ham-
mered plates" anywhere in the Bible. The nearest
like it are the terms "beaten gold" and "beaten work" ;
but for these, entirely diflferent words in Hebrew are
used.

The only suggestion, in the Hebrew, of the idea
given in the crude translation of the modern critic is
found in two expressions. Thus in Ex. 30 : 3, we read
of gold beaten into thin plates. But here the root
word appears in order to represent the spreading out
of the metal by the beating, and a separate word is
used for "plates." The other example is Isa. 40 : 19,
where the goldsmith is mentioned as spreading an
image over with gold. But it is for the "spreading
over" that the root word is here used, and not at all
for the metal, which is indicated by another word.

44 ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE

One can readily see that since the word means that
which is expanded, it might possibly have been used
to designate a metal plate so expanded; yet not once
has inspiration so used the word.

But when we examine the term "expanse" as ap-
plied to the atmospheric heavens, we discover a deep
and great significance to it. We understand that air
is made up of a mixture of two gases, oxygen and
nitrogen; and we know that all gases tend to expand
unless in some way confined or restricted in space.
Furthermore, science teaches us that the expansion
of any gas is caused by the hammering upon one an-
other of the atoms of which the gas is composed. We
do not aim here to condone the atomic theory; but
supposing that science is somewhat right, we begin to
see how the idea of "hammer" might come into the
word denoting the atmosphere. All matter, and par-
ticularly gaseous matter, is vibrant with force; and
force is but the energy of the creative word.

When God, therefore, wrapped the earth about with
a gaseous envelope, vibrant under the constantly im-
pressed energy of the word, the very vibrating and
clashing and hammering of the atoms of the gases,
particularly under the heat of the sun, caused these
particles to seek wider room and thus expand until
the stress of expansion was in perfect balance with the
restraining stress of gravity.

And thus it is even to this day.

We can picture how, when God created the con-
stituent gases of the air, they moved out into a great
atmospheric expanse, to the bounds fixed for it by the

THE A TMO SPHERIC HEA VENS 45

will of the Creator. Thus we have a hammered ex-
panse; for the particles of the gases have been ham-
mered by the energy of the creative word. And we
have even now a hammered expanse; for the power
of that word is forever active, still causing the parti-
cles to vibrate and thus continue to maintain the ex-
panse. The first impulse from God created the air ; the
second impulse continues and maintains it.

We do not deny, for it is true, that men came in time
to think of the sky as a dome of crystal. Thus the
Greeks and the Romans viewed it. The Jews even,
by contamination with the heathen — and the New
Testament record is proof enough of their final
apostasy — might give the Scriptures an improper
rendering. But this is all apart from the work of in-
spiration. And to-day we see the result of heathen
ideas, the result of a misunderstanding of the works
as well as the Word, in our common English transla-
tion of the word raqia by "firmament," as something
firm or substantial.

But we cannot believe that Abraham had this re-
stricted idea of the heavens when the Lord led him
abroad at night and revealed to him that the stars of
the sky were not merely a few thousand, as his unaided
eye would think, but that they were as numberless as
the sands of the ocean shore. They were, as Abraham
found when God strengthened his sight, beyond the
count of man. How could such a conception accord
with the idea of some shining plates holding within
their walls a few lights ? Leave such foolish ideas for
the heathen to hold, but charge them not to the seer of

46 ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE

God. When Moses speaks of "the heaven and the
heaven of heavens," he is saying, according to the real
meaning of the Hebrew, '^the lofty and the lofty of the
lofties" ; and by this, we know that he means some-
thing far beyond any heathenish idea of a low dome
above us. Deut. lo : 14. The prophet Jeremiah brings
to us the revelation that the heavens above cannot be
measured by man (Jer. 31 : 37) ; and this of itself dis-
poses of any such limitations to the sky as the heathen
held. Immediately afterward the same prophet could
appeal to this might of God in creating an unmeasured
expanse above us and about us, as a proof of God's
omnipotence. Jer. 32 : 17. Men's ideas of God's
Word, and that Word itself, are quite separate things.
Revelation gives us the truth of science, the real fact,
in the word "expanse" ; and science is left to search
out the details which revelation thus suggests. Here
we see again the concord between the Bible and science,
their true harmony.

Last of all, the Scriptural word for "atmosphere"
is better than the one that science gives. The lan-
guage of science is more the language of mere appear-
ance. Thus books on astronomy speak of "the sun
entering Aries," by which they do not mean that the
sun actually enters the constellation of Aries, but
that it passes a certain point in space, called "the ver-
nal equinox." They also speak of the conjunction of
heavenly bodies, but do not mean by this that these
bodies actually conjoin; they merely appear to do so.
And scientific men, nonscientific men, and the Bible
also, put the appearance for the reality, when they

THE A TMO SPHERIC HE A VENS 47

speak of the rising and the setting of the sun. It is
perfectly proper to use such an expression; for we
speak of the phenomenon only, without any reference
to the cause producing it. To do otherwise would be
to place upon us a burden that neither we nor our lan-
guage of common conversation could bear.

We have said that the Scriptural name for the at-
mospheric heavens is a better word than that given by
science; and so it is. The word that science gives,
means "a ball of vapor." It describes the appearance
of the thing. But the Bible word suggests the real
condition and nature by using the word "expanse,"
suggesting to us the inner fact, and prompting us to
learn what was expanded, and what caused this ex-
panse.

A tree is known by its fruit. The Word of God
does not give men narrow, foolish ideas of even this
material universe. It gives us, indeed, the mightiest
of spiritual truths; but its words regarding the ma-
terial creation, though fewer and briefer, are so grand
and so sublime as to comport with the first.

The Bible has given the germ truth of all the great
scientific discoveries of these modern times. As we
proceed with the subject, this will be more and more
clearly discerned. These principles of the Word hold
true even in the fields of mathematics, physics, chem-
istry, and biology. If men had used the truth of God's
Word as a basis of scientific investigation, there would
to-day be seen a far better state of affairs. But re-
ligion, too often, has been made the means of fetter-
ing men's souls rather than of freeing them. This

48 ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE

must be laid at the door of bigotry and priestcraft. It
is not the influence of the Bible.

Take another example of the inerrancy of the Word :
Men have always known something of the air. It
has propelled their ships, thrust itself against the
bodies of men, and overturned their works. But the
great reason for all this, the great principle by which
these atmospheric phenomena are to be explained, had
never once entered their heads. They witnessed even
the devastation of the whirlwind, but never once
dreamed that weight was necessary to give momentum.
They could only attribute the work to some of their
idol gods. And so long as men did not think of air's
having weight, they would not, of course, make any
investigations in that direction. At last, however, the
question was raised. Men asked, Has the air weight?
How this question first arose, no one now can say.
Possibly it was suggested by the phenomena them-
selves. If so, the facts of nature were pointing men
toward the truth. Or it may be that men read Job
28:25, and then went to nature with the question. If
so, it was the Word leading men to the facts that ex-
plained the truth of the Word. How one could read
this text in Job and not have the question suggested,
it is not easy to understand. But in some way, at
last, the question was raised, Has the air weight?

"During the earlier period of the revival of learn-
ing in Europe, the question was occasionally discussed,
and was always decided in the negative. No such
pressure could be felt. All experience and sensation
seemed to be opposed to the idea of its existence.

A Peculiar Nebular Formation in Cygnus

4a

Region of the North American Nebula

Vast numbers of stars, most of them larger than our sun, that

stagger the imagination, and overwhelm the reason. In their

midst is the weird, mystic nebula. Note the peculiar outlines

that give it the name.

THE A TMO SPHERIC HE A VENS 49

"Men were everywhere using their rude devices for
raising water in pumps, without the least idea of what
they were doing. The action that was taking place
before their eyes never entered into their compre-
hension. If any one had told them that, in raising a
pump bucket, they were lifting a portion of the weight
of the atmosphere from the water under the bucket,
so that the excess of this pressure, exerted on the sur-
face of the water in the well, would force the column
of water in the pump barrel up after the bucket, there
were centuries when such a teacher would have been
in danger of being burned up.

"This, with all similar phenomena, was explained
by the dictum that nature abhors a vacuum. This
nonsense passed for science through many ages. It
is interesting to recall the long period during which
this was assumed as an axiom that no one dared to
question. . . .

"The raising of the question whether the atmos-
phere might have weight, was itself a notable event,
as marking the beginning of scientific inquiry. But
an experiment was made, which was long regarded
among the learned as settling this question in the nega-
tive. This experiment consisted in weighing a bladder,
when distended with air and when empty. No differ-
ence could ever be detected."

Men did not see the fallacy of this experiment.

"This fallacy lay in the unobserved fact that the
bladder was filled with, and immersed in, the same
fluid. Whether full, or approximately empty, it always
displaced, in addition to its own proper bulk, very

50 ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE

nearly the same weight of air that it contained. A
similar experiment would just as well prove water, or
even mercury, to be without weight. So this great
fact was hidden from men. Copernicus, Galileo, died
without the sight."

Though God had said, ages before, that He had
given to the air weight (Job 28: 25), men trusted the
result of their own blind guess instead of the infallible
Word of God. So they were still in error.

"In endeavoring to raise water from a deep well in
Florence, it was found possible to lift it only about
thirty-two feet, which led Galileo to observe that
nature, evidently, did not abhor a vacuum above thirty-
two feet. Dying, Galileo commended the investigation
of this subject to his pupil and successor, Torricelli.
The reflections of TorricelH led him to the conviction
that the atmosphere must have weight [he had found
the true theory, the one given in the Bible], and that
it must be by its pressure that the water was caused
to rise in the pump barrel. In considering how this
question might be tested, he at last thought of mer-
cury. This substance, between thirteen and fourteen
times heavier than water, would be caused by the same
pressure, if it existed, to rise only about thirty inches.
So he reasoned that, by the employment of mercury,
the existence or nonexistence of this pressure might
be shown in a glass tube.

"It is interesting to imagine the feelings of this
philosopher when preparing for this experiment, which
was so remarkable at once for its simplicity, its con-
clusiveness, and its importance. It was almost as

THE A TMO SPHERIC HEA VENS 61

simple as that of standing the tgg on its end, yet no
other finite mind had conceived it. Was it with
trembhng expectation, or in the calmness of conscious
strength, that he filled with mercury his glass tube,
four feet in length, sealed at one end, placed his
finger over the open end, inverted the tube, plunged
the open end in a vessel half filled with mercury, and
then — removed his finger ?

**What were the emotions with which he saw the
column of mercury fall, and, after completing the os-
cillations produced by its momentum, stand at a height
of between twenty-nine and thirty inches, in equilibrium
with the pressure of the atmosphere on the same area
of the mercury in the vessel; or with which he realized
the fact that the glass tube above the column of mer-
cury inclosed the absolute void, then first obtained by
man, since only approximations to it could be reached
in the pump barrel, and which was ever after to be
known as the Torricellian vacuum ! And what would
his emotions have been if he could have imagined —
what, indeed, no one can adequately conceive — the
influence that this discovery was to exert in prompting
the industries and the civilization of his race!

"The discovery of the pressure of the atmosphere
is one of those discoveries by which the boundary of
human knowledge has been enlarged in a remarkable
degree. It was a radical discovery; and out of it
there have sprung an endless series of discoveries and
inventions, which, while they have contributed to an
incalculable measure to the welfare of man, have at
the same time still further added to the extent of his

52 ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE

knowledge and the power of his understanding." —
Charles Talbot Porter.

We know that the weight, or down pressure, of the
air, is enormous. Its pressure, or weight, is about
fifteen pounds to the square inch, or over a ton for
each square foot of the earth's surface. This is not
felt; for it is through us as well as about us; we are
immersed in it. The whole pressure of the air on the
surface of the earth, expressed in tons, would require
sixteen digits. In round numbers, we may say, it is
five thousand milHons of millions of tons; or if you
want it more exactly, it is close to 5,517,823,961,480,-
000 tons.

Thus we know that the weight of the air is tremen-
dous. God gave air this weight. He regulated it
with mathematical nicety to our needs. And He did
not leave us in ignorance of the fact, but told us of it
in His Word. The air binds the earth with an elastic
hoop. If God were to unclasp this air from about
the earth, and take off this enormous pressure, would
not the pent-up forces within the earth break forth?
Some day He will remove it, as one removes the peel-
ing from an orange. Some day it will be rolled to-
gether as a scroll. Rev. 6: 14. What about your
science then? Will you, with all your science, be
founded on His immutable Word? If so, you may
look calmly up, in that awful hour, and say. We will
not fear, "though the earth be removed, and though
the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea;
though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though
the mountains shake with the swelling thereof."

CHAPTER V

The Power of Gravitation

THE work of Sir Isaac Newton in ascertaining
that there is in the universe a mysterious force
acting between all particles of matter, regard-
less of how remote, and his work in measuring the
pull of this power between given bodies, is something
no man should belittle. What he accomplished speaks
for itself in the gigantic results that have followed.

Yet this was but a development of things already
grasped by the inquiring mind of man. For years,
men had used pumps ; but had they been told that the
mechanism of the pump, thoroughly understood, would
explain the force operating between the heavenly
bodies, the announcement would have been met with
absolute incredulity. Yet solving the problem of the
pump led to the discovery of the fact that air has
weight; and from this, men came to the conclusion
that all things have weight. But this is universal
gravitation, only put in other words.

"Out of pumps grew the discussion about nature's
abhorrence of a vacuum; and then it was discovered

53

54 ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE

that nature does not abhor a vacuum, but that air has
weight ; and that notion paved the way for the doctrine
that all matter has weight, and that the force which
produces weight is coextensive with the universe, — in
short, to the theory of universal gravitation and end-
less force." — Thomas Huxley.

We have found in the Word an announcement that
air has weight. Since the truth of a coextensive force
lies in that revelation, it follows that so far, at least,
gravity is pointed out. But the Scriptures are plainer
and more explicit regarding gravity than this ; for that
there is such a force is more than once declared.

The Bible places before us a very striking picture.
The apothecary, in filling a prescription, or in com-
pounding a mixture, first measures out the materials.
He then knows in just what proportion the ingredients
are used, and the combined weight of the whole.

That such a picture with reference to the Creator
should be given us in the Word of God ages before
the so-called discovery of Newton, is most significant.
The Creator is represented as weighing out and
measuring, when He established the universe, all the
elements that enter into it. He is represented as know-
ing the weight of all the different parts of the earth,
even as a man knows the weight of the parcels he
places in the scales.

''For He looketh to the ends of the earth, and seeth
under the whole heaven." Why does the Creator do
this? — "To make the weight for the winds; and He
weigheth the waters by measure." Job 28 : 24, 25.
"He made a law for the rain, and a way for the sound-

THE POWER OF GRAVITATION 55

ing storms." Job 28:26, Douay version. Again:
"Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his
hand, and meted out heaven with the span, and com-
prehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and
weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a bal-
ance?" Isa. 40: 12.

This is but one aspect of the great law of gravita-
tion. Scientists now see that any atom of the uni-
verse is assigned to its place with a recognition of
what effect it will have on every other atom, and
what effect every other atom will have upon it. With
all other parts of the universe as they are, and the
earth's orbit of the size and in the relative position that
it is, the weight of the earth could not be increased
or made less without most serious consequences not
only to the earth but to the whole universe.

Let us look more closely at this matter for a mo-
ment. Suppose the earth to have its present distance
from the sun, and its present orbital velocity of motion.

According to the first law of motion, a moving body
left to itself moves forever in a straight Hne, with a
uniform velocity.

Now the earth has been set in motion with a velo-
city of about eleven hundred miles a minute. But as
has been said, if left to itself, the earth would move
in a straight line.

However, the earth does not move in a straight line,
but instead, moves in a path nearly circular, or what
is called a closed orbit. The attraction of the sun is
the force that deflects the earth from a straight path
and gives it this orbital direction.

56 ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE

But the attraction of the sun is determined, outside
of the sun itself, by the amount of matter in the earth.
If there were somewhat less matter in the earth than
there is — that is, if the earth weighed slightly less
than it does now — its orbital velocity being as now,
the attractive power exerted by the sun would be
weaker than it is now, and the earth would not be
sufficiently deflected to move in a closed orbit around
the sun.

With every revolution, the earth would be farther
away from the sun, until at last, breaking away from
the sun's control, it would fly out on a career of its
own into the wilds of space.

If, on the other hand, the earth weighed slightly
more than it does at present, and its orbital velocity
were unchanged from what it is now, the attractive
power of the sun would be greater than it is at present,
and the earth would be deflected inside of its present
orbit.

At each revolution, it would approach nearer and
nearer the sun, until eventually, with a frightful speed,
it would crash into the great central luminary.

But either of these supposed circumstances could
but work ruin with all other parts of the solar system.
And what happens in the solar system must be felt to
the outermost bounds of the unfathomable universe.
If one member suffers, all others must suffer with it.

The universe, grand and infinite as it is in its ex-
panse, nevertheless is a unit. And it is made a unit
by this power which acts between all its component
parts. This force is the hand of God, so to speak,

THE PO WER OF GRA VITA TION 57

which holds each element of the whole in its relative
place, and guides all in their infinite paths.

The Word declares that, even as men have now
found, the earth hangs on nothing. "He stretcheth
out the north over the empty place, and hangeth the
earth upon nothing." Job 26 : 7. But it is just as ex-
plicit in declaring that the earth is nevertheless up-
held. Furthermore, it declares that all things as well
are upheld. And it even affirms how the earth and all
things are upheld. Scientists are right in attributing
this work to a force. So the Bible attributes it; but
the Bible goes a step farther, and gives the cause and
origin of this force, ascribing it to the word of al-
mighty God. ''Upholding all things by the word of
His power" Heb. i : 3.

When we read the scriptures in Isaiah where God
is represented as measuring the waters, meting out
the heavens, comprehending the dust of the earth, and
weighing the mountains and the hills; when we read
that He not only measured these, but determined their
specific gravity and total weight (Job 28:25; 38:4-7;
Hab. 3:6), — we are so struck with the greatness of
the Creator, that all other ideas in the Scriptures seem
to fade out of view. We find it so great a revelation
of God, that we stop with that revelation, and go no
farther. But that is not all there is in the disclosure.
As we have seen, the fundamental truth of universal
gravity is included in the greater revelation of God.

When, on the other hand, we study what science has
done, we see only the great revelation of gravity; and
looking no farther, we fail to see a revelation of God

&8 ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE

But it was not designed that, having seen the workings
of infinite power, we should cease our investigations,
until we had come to the all-sufficient source of that
infinite power.

Thus viewing the Word, we have seen the God of
power, but have failed to study the workings of that
power; and viewing the workings of that power, we
have failed to perceive the God of the power. Which
mistake is the greater, we need not discuss. God
meant us to make neither. A free knowledge of God
must in time lead us to a knowledge of His workings ;
and an ignorance of God, as in the Dark Ages, must
produce ignorance of His workings — that is, stagna-
tion in science and in scientific researches.

But let no one think that any theory of gravitation
will be complete which leaves out of consideration the
great Primal Cause. That there are absurdities as well
as things beyond human conception in the hypothesis
scientists have adopted with reference to this power,
all scientists know.

How some of them feel about these difficulties is
well stated in the following words:

**We must not imagine the word 'attract' to mean
too much. It merely states the fact that there is a
tendency for the bodies to move toward each other,
without including or implying any explanation of the
fact. So far, no explanation has appeared which is
less difficult to comprehend than the fact itself.
Whether bodies are drawn together by some outside
action, or pushed together ; or whether they themselves
can act across space with mathematical intelligence, —

THE POWER OF GRAVITATION 59

in what way it is that 'attraction' comes about, — is
still unknown, — apparently as inscrutable as the very
nature and constitution of an atom of matter itself;
it is simply a fundamental fact." — Young's "General
Astronomy."

The Bible has its part in revealing the truth of the
attraction of gravitation. It declares:

1. That there is such a power;

2. That it upholds all things; and —

3. That the causative agent is the word of God.
On these three points it stands, above all science and

scientific research; and it always must, in the very
nature of the case, so stand. Science only shows its
utter folly and weakness when it attempts to enter this
domain of the Word with any other doctrines and
philosophies.

But in that matter of the study of gravity, science
has its lawful and helpful place. There are some facts
involved in the great principle announced in the Word.
Just what these facts are cannot be ascertained by a
study of the Word alone, or by the Word at all; they
are not there revealed. Only the truth is there re-
vealed; the facts are revealed elsewhere. The facts
must be found by a study of the works. And only by
a study of the works can they be found.

The facts which science may discover and announce,
and which, indeed, it has found and made known, are
two: namely, that this force of attraction between
particles is (i) directly proportioned to the mass of
the attracting particles, and (2) inversely proportioned
to the square of the distance between them.

60 ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE

The first fact may be stated thus : The power acting
between bodies of equal mass increases when the num-
ber of particles is increased, and decreases when the
number of particles decreases. That is, the power act-
ing is always proportioned to the number or mass of
the particles it acts upon.

As to the second fact: When we increase the distance
between particles, we decrease the pull between them;
and when we decrease the distance between particles,
we increase the pull. That is, the pull is inversely
proportioned to the square of the distance between the
things pulled.

These tzvo facts, and what they mean, are well stated
by Henry White Warren, D. D. We make a slight
change in the wording, to fit our purpose. "The laws
governing this attraction are two. When these par-
ticles are associated together, the attraction is in pro-
portion to the mass. A given mass pulls twice as much
as one half the size, because there is twice as much to
pull. And a given mass is pulled twice as much as
one half as large, because there is twice as much to be
pulled. A man who weighed one hundred and fifty
pounds on the earth might weigh a ton and a half on
a body as large as the sun. That is one law of attrac-
tion; and the other is, that masses attract inversely as
the square of distance between them. Absence affects
friendships that have a material basis. If a body like
the earth pulls a man one hundred and fifty pounds
at the surface, or four thousand miles from the center,
it will pull the same man one fourth as much at twice
the distance. That is, he will weigh, by a spring bal-

THE POWER OF GRAVITATION 61

ance, thirty-seven and a half pounds at eight thousand
miles from the center, and nine pounds six ounces at
sixteen thousand miles from the center, and he will
weigh or be pulled by the earth one twenty-fourth of
a pound at the distance of the moon. But the moon
would be large enough and near enough to pull twenty-
four pounds on the same man, so the earth could not
draw him away. Thus the two laws of attraction are :
(i) Gravity is proportioned to the quantity of matter;
and (2) The force of gravity varies inversely as the
square of the distance from the center of the attract-
ing body."

Now these two facts belong to the domain of science.
Men are left entirely free to know all that they may
be able to discover regarding these. The Bible is
utterly silent relative to them.

But to the three points which revelation declares,
science is allowed to add all that it may by way of
illustration. Man is invited to reecho the words of
God by working. The Bible says (i) that there is a
universal force acting in the universe, and (2) that it
upholds all things, and (3) that it is due to the power
of the word of God. Science may in any legitimate
manner reaffirm and reecho these truths of God. But
the two facts discoverable by science, the Bible in no
way attempts to state or name. In other words, the
Word invites confirmation of its statements, but leaves
science entirely free in the investigations which belong
to its own peculiar domain.

Thus there are two fields of knowledge, — one for
revelation, the other for science. There should be no

62 ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE

conflict between them. Each is helpful to the other,
and each sheds light upon the other.

And this is an example of all other fields of knowl-
edge. God has done His part, and done it so well that
no man can in truth condemn or amend it. He gives
man also a part to act, and a field of knowledge to
work, to which the Word will give him infinite aid,
but in which he is left by it profoundly free. And as
man labors, acting well his part, he may some day
come to know that he is even thus a laborer together
with God, and that in this wider knowledge lies a
broader liberty.

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CHAPTER VI

The Transfer of Energy

THE book of Job contains many references to
the things of the material world. The Creator,
in the closing chapters of the book, lays before
the puzzled Job some of the fundamental problems of
science. The reason of this is easily discovered.

Job had been sorely afflicted. Bereft of family and
all earthly possessions, suffering of a loathsome dis-
ease, he is at length visited by three of his friends.
The three know but one philosophy : Suffering is
always on account of sin, and is ministered in exact
proportion to the enormity of that sin. If a man is
well and prosperous, that is evidence of his righteous-
ness; if he is afflicted, that is proof of his sin.

The three do not see in Job any semblance to his
former self. They lift up their voices and weep, rend
their mantles, sprinkle dust upon their heads, sit down
upon the ground seven days and seven nights, offering
not a word.

At last, the suft'ering of Job becomes so great that
he curses the day wherein he was born. The three

63

64 ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE

listen to him for a time; but eventually their pent-up
feelings find vent, and their philosophy that suffering
is always visited because of sins committed, is poured
out in words and figures and arguments in overwhelm-
ing confusion upon the miserable Job. "Who ever
perished," say they, "being innocent? or where were
the righteous cut off? . . . They that plow iniquity,
and sow wickedness, reap the same."

But Job knows that such philosophy is not complete ;
he knows, even as the facts in the case attest, that their
words do not apply to him. Nevertheless he is groping
in the dark. He does not understand the meaning of
his condition. He knows, however, that he is innocent
of any evil intent or deed. Then begins the long and
heated argument. The three counselors are silenced
at last, and a fourth, named Elihu, attempts still fur-
ther to clear the mystery.

None of Job's comforters would admit that the
innocent could suffer, or the righteous be afflicted.
The bright light from the cross had not as yet lighted
the mystery. In Christ, we see the innocent afflicted,
and the upright suffering death. Job was, though he
knew it not, but filling up "of the afflictions of Christ."
Col. 1 : 24. All unconsciously, he was fellowshiping
in the sufferings of Jesus.

Then when Job's darkness had grown most intense,
and the problem of his condition seemed incapable of
a solution, God appeared. In His address to Job, He
taught the afflicted man that this mystery of the inno-
cent suffering for the guilty was only one of the many
great problems that confronted the pygmy mind of man.

The Land of the Midnight Sun
As the earth might appear if one could only "stand off"
look at it when the sun is "farthest north."

A Typical Sun Spot — Highly jMagnified
Photographed from a drawing by Scriven Bolton.

THE TRANSFER OF ENERGY 65

In imagination, He carried him back to creation's
morning, then out into the great universe, and finally
brought him to the simplest, most familiar things of
the world about him, causing him to realize that every-
where are questions unanswered and problems un-
solved— mysteries too high for man's mind in this
his infant state and in these his few years of sojourn.

But if he could not solve intellectually the problems
of his life. Job, face to face with the Creator, could
realize God's love and goodness, and at once resigned
himself to the peace and holy shelter of the ever-
lasting arms.

The Creator's questions to Job call to our minds
some of the mysteries all about us. These mysteries
mean, first of all, that there is still something more
for us to learn, a mine of riches as yet all unexplored.
These mysteries should teach us modesty, and produce
in us, while we grope and ponder, a willingness to wait
for the full unfolding of the truth.

Much has been said and written concerning light.
Many think it is quite fully understood. But it is
not. In some of its simplest aspects, it is still a pro-
found, impenetrable mystery. God, when He appeared
to Job, asked him the still unanswered question, "By
what way is the hght distributed ?" Job 38 : 24, literal
translation.

Some in our day would say that the answer to this
question is very simple. "Light is distributed," they
say, "by vibrations, or waves, in the luminiferous
ether." And then this lucid definition is explained
somewhat as follows:

66 ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE

As a pebble, dropped in water, causes ripples in the
water to travel outward across the surface, so notes
and tones cause vibrations, or waves, in the atmos-
phere; and these, reaching the ear, set up a vibration
of the drum of the ear, causing at last a sensation of
sound. In a similar manner, a vibration in the ether,
reaching at last the eyes, gives one the sensation
of light.

But all this being said and understood, the fact still
remains that no one can explain how light reaches
across an intervening"" space. We cannot, even now,
with all our boasted science, answer the question God
addressed to Job; and the conviction grows that it is
unanswerable — the simple question, "By what way
is the light distributed?"

And this mystery of the transfer of light is also
the mystery of the transfer of gravity, electricity, heat,
and all radiant forces whatsoever. We know, in some
measure, what these forces do; but how they do it is
a question as yet very imperfectly answered.

'*We must carefully bear in mind that the origin of
phenomena is not explained because, in the language
of science, they have been referred to an assumed force
with a high-sounding name. Names are not things;
and we know nothing more of the cause which brings
the apple to the ground because Newton has called it
the force of gravitation, than we did before. He gave
us the law of motion, and showed us the formula of
its working, and enabled us to predict how every apple
would fall, and how every planet would move through-
out space; but the cause of the motion is as closely

THE TRANSFER OF ENERGY 67

hidden as ever. In regard to the law of gravitation
we know a great deal; but in regard to the force of
gravitation — whatever we may think or believe about
it — we know absolutely nothing, and the same is true
of every other force." — Josiah Parsons Cooke, Erving
professor of chemistry and mineralogy in Harvard
University.

Newton, over and over again, insisted that he had
nothing to do with gravitation as a physical cause.
He said: "How these attractions of gravity, magnet-
ism, and electricity may be performed, I do not here
consider. What I call attraction may be performed by
impulse or by some other means unknown to me. I
use the word here to signify only in a general way any
force by which bodies tend toward one another, what-
ever be the cause." — "Optics/' query ji.

"Newton assuredly lent no shadow of support to
the modern pseudo scientific philosophy which con-
founds laws and causes." — Huxley.

"All we know about the force of gravitation, or any
other so-called force, is that it is a name for the hypo-
thetical cause of an observed order of facts." — Huxley.

Huxley calls this force a hypothetical cause. "Hypo-
thetical" has reference to a hypothesis ; it is something
"assumed without a proof, for the purpose of reason-
ing and deducing proof." But a hypothetical cause
is, in the absolute sense, no cause at all. Forces are
not causes; for they themselves in turn must be ac-
counted for. Notice how it works: Bodies tend to
move toward each other; what is the cause? "The
force of gravitation," says the scientist. But what is

68 ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE

this force? — "It is the force which draws bodies to-
ward each other." But how does this force produce
this effect? Coming back to our first question, what
is the cause of this attraction? Our question remains
unanswered. While we search for the cause, the
pseudo-scientist continues to repeat his formula,
"Bodies are attracted toward one another by the force
of gravity; and the force of gravity is that which
draws them together." He ends where he began, and
he begins where he ended. He is reasoning in a circle.

"It is certain that light consists in the transference
of energy, not of matter; and the undulatory theory
is based upon this fact. But as to the manner in
which energy is thus transferred, we are entirely ig-
norant."— "International Cyclopedia," article "Undu-
latory Theory of Light."

How do light and the force of gravitation travel
across the abyss of space? In the words of God to
Job, "By what way is the light distributed ?" Scientists
cannot tell. The theory that light travels by vibrations
in the light-bearing ether does not explain it. The
theory, in its very constitution, is self -destructive. By
this theory, one thing is supposed to act upon another
through a space absolutely empty.

To see more clearly how difficult is this question of
the transfer of force through space, let us take, as
an example, the light and heat of the sun. The sun
acts upon us to produce the sensation of light and heat.
The sun is over ninety millions of miles away from
us; and the light and the heat are here on the earth,
having traveled the immense distance from the sun

THE TRANSFER OF ENERGY 69

to us. We find that the Hght and the heat, in passing
from the sun to us, have consumed some eight minutes.

Now, in this instance of the transfer of light and
heat from sun to earth, we have the idea of a motion —
the motion of this force passing from sun to earth.
But in conceiving motion, we always think of some-
thing moved. Therefore we argue that the exercise
of force through ninety millions of miles, or through
any other distance, for that matter, of absolute vacuum,
where there is nothing that can in any wise be moved,
is inconceivable. We cannot think of a force as trav-
eling unless it has something in which or upon which
to travel. Hence we naturally reason about as follows :
Between the sun and the earth there is a motion shown
by the transfer of heat and light, and hence something
moved. This something that moves, and hence trans-
fers the energy of Hght and heat — what is it? Scien-
tists call it the ether. Some of them think it is a sort
of thin air; others think it is an elastic solid, which
pervades all space, being always present everywhere.
As has been said, waves in the ether are supposed to
carry the energy of light and heat, somewhat as the
air carries sound waves^ or somewhat as the surface
of the water carries the waves produced by the drop-
ping of a pebble.

But now, having assumed the existence of this
ether — having assumed it because we cannot conceive
of force as traveling without something set in motion
to carry it — how much better off are we than before?

What is the constitution of this ether, which we
have thus introduced between the earth and the stars ?

70 ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE

All matter is assumed by scientists to consist of
atoms, or particles, which attract and repel each other.
If these atoms attract each other more than they repel,
we call the matter a solid. If the attraction and the
repulsion are about equal, we call the matter a liquid.
If tlie atoms repel more than they attract, we call the
matter a gas. Now, this ether, like all matter, is sup-
posed to be made up of atoms that attract and repel
each other ; only the atoms of the ether are very much
smaller than those in ordinary matter, and very much
farther apart.

A necessary part of the ether hypothesis is the sup-
position that the ether is imponderable — that is, has
no weight; for if it had weight, it would fall in the
direction of the strongest attracting force, and thus
cease to be a uniform medium everywhere present.
If it is imponderable, or without weight, we are shut
up to the conclusion that the ratio between the inter-
spaces of these atoms and the atoms themselves is
vastly greater than the like ratio in ordinary, or pon-
derable, matter. To put the case plainly: The atoms
of the ether, in order to fit the theory, are as small
with reference to the spaces between them, as the sun
and the earth are as compared with the space between
them. And between these atoms there is absolutely
vacant space. Therefore we have abandoned the first
difficulty of how the force passes from the sun across
the interspace to the earth, only to come to a second
just like it, — How does the force pass from one atom
of the ether to another atom through the vacant space
that always exists between them? The illustration

THE TRANSFER OF ENERGY 71

shows what we mean. The large circle represents the
sun, the smaller one the earth, and the dots the ether.
Let us ask again the original question, and let the
scientist answer. "How is light to pass from sun to
earth over ninety-three million miles of vacant space ?"

"By means of waves in the ether," says the scientist.

"But hold ! Your theory of the constitution of the
ether is that it is composed of atoms which are never
in contact — which have, like the sun and the earth,
vast spaces between them ?"

"Yes."

"Then how does this force, in passing through the
ether, move from one of these atoms to the other?"

He is silent ; he cannot tell.

With our ether hypothesis, we are no better off than
we were before. We still have to imagine a body as
acting where it is not, and in the absence of anything
by which its action may be transferred. The phi-
losophy of the thing is the same whether the exercise
of force be on a large or a small scale. In the words
of Herbert Spencer: "We see . . . that the exer-
cise of force is altogether unintelligible. We cannot
imagine it except through the instrumentality of some-
thing having extension ; and yet when we have assumed
this something, we find that the perplexity is not got
rid of, but only postponed. We are obliged to conclude

n ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE

that matter, whether ponderable or imponderable, and
whether aggregated or in its hypothetical units, acts
upon matter through absolutely vacant space, and yet
this conclusion is positively unthinkable."

Now, as in the days of Job, no man knows by what
way the light is distributed. In the springtime, the
sunlight touches the earth, and wakes the dormant
life beneath the sod, and all the hillsides grow radiant
with beauty; but how this light reaches us, no man
can tell. And this is not the only mystery.

The world is full of mysteries; but this is because
the world is larger than the measure of man's mind.
And, too, there are mysteries in God's providence,
mysteries in His Word ; but they are mysteries because
that providence and that Word are larger than our
feeble thought. As the heavens are higher than the
earth, so are God's ways higher than our ways, and
His thoughts than our thoughts. Isa. 55:9.

Shall we ignore these mysteries, as some so-called
scientists do, and say that all the things of nature are
explained without the necessity of a Creator? Or
shall we allow the mystery to throw about our minds
the darkness of doubt and unrest? Or shall we, like
Job, find our souls' rest in Him who is greater than
all mystery, and confide our all to Him who knows,
uxd who will make known as we are able to endure
and understand?

Let us digress from the subject of light long enough
to consider this matter of mysteries and our attitude
toward them. The mysteries of nature and of
providence and of the Word are but examples of the

THE TRANSFER OP ENERGY 73

mysteries that must, in the nature of the case, forever
surround the manifestations of God Himself. He
is incomprehensible to us, and hence His acts arc
shrouded in more or less of mystery. But some will
say: "If God is incomprehensible, how can we worship
Him rationally? Blind worship is possible, but that
is superstition; rational worship of an incomprehen-
sible being is impossible."

"On the contrary," says Professor Le Conte, "it is
only of such a one that rational worship is possible.
In order to worship rationally, we must be able to
apprehend, but we must not be able to comprehend.
We must be able to take hold of, but we must not be
able to inclose and determine the limits of the object
of our worship. In order to worship him rationally,
we must be able to lay hold of and cling to him, even
if it be but the lowermost skirts of his outer garment;
but we must not be able to embrace, except only his feet.

"We love that which is like ourselves and which we
can also entirely comprehend; that which is on our
own level, or even below us. It is thus we love our
friends and our children. We love and reverence that
which, though like ourselves, is above us, but not
beyond our comprehension. It is thus we love and
reverence the wise, the great, and the good, among
our fellow men. But we love, reverence, and worship
only that which is still like ourselves, but which is not
only above us, but in its highest parts incomprehensible
to us." — "Religion and Science,'' page 102.

It is not consistent for the skeptic to call his Chris-
tian friend unreasonable for believing in some things

74 ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE

that are incapable of a full explanation. So long as
the skeptic cannot explain by what means light or
gravity travels across the oceans of space, so long as
he cannot explain how light from a lamp reaches his
eye, he should not complain of his Christian friend
for believing some of the experienced but unexplained
realities of the higher life.

We believe that gravity reaches across the abyss of
space to clasp all worlds in one bond of unity, and we
believe that light and heat travel from star to star;
but we cannot explain what thus we know is so.

And the Christian believes that a man can be and is
bom again into a life that transcends mortality, but
we cannot understand or explain it all. Like the
transfer of light, heat, and gravity, it is covered with
more or less of mystery; but nevertheless, it is fact.

CHAPTER VII

The Center of the Universe

ERROR and truth on any particular point cannot
reside in the same mind at the same time. Error
and truth are opposites ; the one is entirely an-
tagonistic to the other. A particular error retained
in the mind keeps out of that mind the opposite truth.

In astronomy, for ages, one radical truth was not
generally apprehended, — the truth that the earth is
not the center of the universe. The idea that the earth
was the center, was the great mistake which held men
from any large advancement in astronomical science.
All their investigations were colored by it; and the
entire universe of the visible heavens, tried by it, was
woefully out of joint. The whole system of ancient
astronomy was built upon a huge mistake.

"Men held, as a fact of absolute, unquestionable
certainty, that this earth of ours, — this small whirling
globe, less than eight thousand miles in diameter, —
was a vast and immeasurable plain, extending to
perhaps infinite distances, and firmly fixed upon
immovable foundations. They held that around this

75

76 ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE

great and motionless center moved the other heavenly
bodies, — a little sun, a little moon, and a few thousand
tiny stars, all placed near, for the sole purpose of
lighting and warming our mighty earth.

"The one entirely accepted fact being that our earth
was the moveless center of all things, other matters
had to fit in with that theory as best they might. The
study of the skies was long hopelessly hampered by
this one stupendous error. It is singular to glance
through records of early astronomical notions, and
see the variety of theories that arose, one following
another, all designed to explain the things which were
seen to happen, all hopelessly wrong because of this
one foundation mistake.

"The early Greeks at one time steadfastly believed
the sun to be a torch, the stars to be candles, by turns
lit and put out. One of their philosophers improved,
later, upon the theory, by maintaining that the stars
were a kind of meteors, an emanation from the
earth, — a sort of 'terrestrial effluvia.'

"Another explanation in vogue among them was
that our earth floated in a boundless ocean; and that
when the sun vanished at night, he was boated by
Vulcan around the north pole, behind certain lofty
mountains, which served to hide his radiance, and so
he reached the other side in time for next morning's
due appearance.

"After a while, it became evident to their minds that
this explanation was hardly satisfactory. Then they
conjectured that the earth, instead of floating on the
waters of an ocean, was built upon enormous pillars,

THE CENTER OF THE UNIVERSE 77

and that the sun really did go down at night under-
neath the earth, finding a passage among said pillars,
and coming up on the other side." — "Radiant Suns,"
pages 75, i6.

So men clung to the idea that the earth was the
center of all things, tried everything by that idea, and
endeavored to make everything harmonize with it. But
truth cannot be harmonized with error; and, holding
error as their foundation, they made painfully slow
progress toward the truth.

This world is not the center of the universe. Such
a basal truth, I had long believed, must be in the Word,
though I could not find it. The Word is a perfect
guide for every age and every condition, and so this
truth must be there. At last, I found it revealed in
more than one place. The one most significant to me
is Job 26 : 14. From the rendering in our authorized
version, we do not catch the idea at all. There is little
wonder at this, however. God spoke the truth in the
Hebrew language, and there it was; but when our
translators attempted to state the same truth in the
English language, they were either unable or afraid
to give it the literal rendering. It could not mean just
what it said; yet there it was all this time, waiting
the mind that could believe it. Knowledge has ad-
vanced; men now see that this statement of Holy
Writ can be literally true.

I have special reference to the first clause of the
verse, which reads, "Lo, these are parts of His ways."
Another translation, with a note upon it, is : " *Lo, these
are parts of His ways: and what whisper- word is

78 ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE

heard of Him!' The word rendered 'parts' signifies
'the extremities of Hnes,' mere points; but I know not
of any good English word which I could substitute.
The 'whisper-word' is the barest literal rendering, and
it is too beautiful to be lost, as in the common ver-
sion."— Dr. Pye Smith.

From this authority, we find that the word rendered
"parts" means "the extremities of Hues" ; that is, "the
ends of lines," or "the outlying points." "Lo, these
are the outlying points of His works." And in har-
mony with this idea, we have several other transla-
tions of good authority:

"Lo, these are but the borders of His works; how
faint a whisper we have heard of Him!" — Noyes's
translation.

"Lo ! these are only the outlying borders of His
works. What a whisper of a word we have heard of
Him!" — Quoted by Henry White Warren, D. D.

"Lo, these are but the outskirts of His ways: and
how small a whisper do we hear of Him!" — Revised
Version.

All these translations help us to catch the load of
meaning in the original; and their combined testirrony
shows that this verse is up with all the astronomical
science of the present day — yes, and infinitely ahead
of it, daring to assert as a certainty what astronomers
merely regard as probable.

And when men have caught glimpses of these sub-
lime truths, and have thought to express their awakened
emotions, do you know that the Scriptures alone give
them language adequate for their thoughts? It has

THE CENTER OF THE UNIVERSE 79

taken the almighty power of God to make human
words sufficient to express His infinite truths. Says
an astronomer of no Httle note: ''However vast the
universe now appears, however numerous the worlds
which may exist within its boundless range, the lan-
guage of Scripture, and Scripture alone, is sufficiently
comprehensive and sublime to express all the emotions
which naturally arise in the mind when contemplating
its structure. This shows not only the harmony which
subsists between the discoveries of science, but also
forms, by itself, a strong presumptive evidence that
the records of the Bible are authentic and divine." —
Elijah EL Burritt.

"Lo, these are but the outskirts of His ways;" and
the word ''these" refers not alone to the earth, but
also to the garnished heavens, mentioned in the verses
preceding. Though we study the expanded heavens
as we may; gather facts so many as we can; get as
large a conception of space as possible; yet, studying
and toiling to the extent of our ability, we shall never
get beyond this verse. It will never grow old. Human
minds will never frame in better words the truth it
contains. Human minds will never, either here or
hereafter, find all the depths of its meaning. It is
an infinite truth.

True, it does not say that the earth is not in the
center of the universe. But it tells far more than that;
for though it does not say where the earth is not, it
does define just where the earth is, — on the outskirts.
If the earth is on the outskirts, it certainly cannot be
in the center. And as the -garnished heavens that we

80 ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE

see, are also but "the outskirts" of God's works, and
as these are but a "faint whisper" of the word that
spoke them into existence (Ps. 33:6, 9), then the dis-
tance to that center must be immense, wherever that
center be.

But why did men think that the earth was the center
of the universe? What led them to this conclusion?
The apparent motion of the heavenly bodies was
probably one great reason why they believed as they
did. But there is a certain fitness, after all, in a self-
centered man's believing in an earth-centered universe.
It is the heathen rendering of, "All things are yours."

But the self-subdued man is prepared to view all
this far differently. To such a man, it seems highly
appropriate that this earth should be but a speck, the
extremity of a line, in immensity, and that it is not
nearly so important in the machinery of the universe
as the untamed intellect might believe it to be.

By these two views are we shown that material
things are to be seen through the spiritual, being
spiritually discerned. We also see that the unregen-
erate man labors at a tremendous disadvantage in
seeking to understand God's works. And thus we
realize something of the blessed import of the term
"Christian education." Last of all, we are more and
more confirmed in our belief that the Word is an all-
sufficient guide to man; and, furthermore, that the
Word of God and the works of God are indissolubly
connected, — the works testifying of the Word, for
they are its manifestations; and the Word testifying
of the works, for through it they have existence.

Nebula in Triangulum

The Andromeda Nebula
This is not really a nebula, but a vast cluster of stars.

This

galaxy of suns is immensely larger than our planetary system.

CHAPTER VIII

The Earth in Space

CLOSELY associated with the old error that the
earth was the center of the universe, was an-
other, equally erroneous, and possibly more
fatal to advancement in the truth. It was the belief
that the earth had a material support. Some supposed
the earth to be flat, and afloat on an immense ocean.
Others, while they believed that it was flat, declared
that it was supported by enormous pillars. What the
pillars rested on, all seemed to be perfectly willing to
leave to uncertainty. They must have a support for
the earth; they did not care to trace the matter hack
further than that.

One advance from this enslaving error was appre-
ciation of the fact that the earth is round. As nearly
as we can now tell, there have always been at least a
few who have realized that the earth is round ; but it
was not generally believed. Hundreds of years ago
the Word declared the same great truth. There are
a number of texts which cannot be explained except
in the light of this truth; and in one place, we have

8i

82 ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE

a plain declaration of it: "It is He that sitteth upon
the circle of the earth." Isa. 40:22. "It is He that
sitteth upon the glohe of the earth." — Id., Catholic
translation of the Latin Vulgate. "He sitteth upon
the sphere of the earth." — Id., Gesenius, quoted by
Warren. For the word "upon," the American Revised
Version gives "above." Thus we may have, as a pos-
sible rendering of this text, "He [God] sitteth above
the circle, sphere, or globe, of the earth."

But while some men could conceive that the earth
is round, the idea that it is without visible support
was always beyond any of them. To present it to them
was to appall them. They could see that such an idea
would demolish all their systems of astronomy, and
leave them utterly bewildered in the midst of a scien-
tific chaos. Put yourself, if you can, in their place.
Get an idea of a solid, stable earth, resting on firm
foundations of pillars and rocks, turtle, elephant, or
whatever the conjecture. Let all your ideas of
astronomy be determined by this. Then try to think
of what it would mean to discover suddenly that the
earth is rolling in space at the rate of one thousand
miles an hour, and shooting onv/ard at the far more
rapid, almost frightful speed of over eleven hundred
miles a minute, with nothing above or below or round
about it to give support.

Could a mind at once take in such a truth? — It
seems not : error is too enslaving for that. "The very
thought of such a restless, whirling globe, where all
had been reckoned as absolute fixity, was startling to
the imagination until men grew used to it." Rome

THE EARTH IN SPA CE 83

was against the new idea ; but even Rome had to give
way before the truths of astronomy. Men might be
led to believe the word of Rome, though it was plainly
against the statement of the Word of God ; but it was
difficult to make them believe the word of Rome where
nature uttered a plain denial. The opening truths of
astronomy shook Rome to her very foundations. Men
were racked and burned; but the truth in its majesty
moved on. The Word was beginning to lighten the
earth. Those truths were the truths of the Word.
God's Word had been a witness all through those dark
days, but Rome had sought to impeach its testimony.
Then, behold! God called another witness into court.
Nature began to thunder forth the truth which proved
Rome unreliable. Nature was against the pope, be-
cause the pope was against nature; and men would
believe nature in preference to the pope.

While Rome racked the bodies of men, truth racked
their minds. Thus the contest raged; and the battle
still is on. But that truth was the truth of the Word,
and that advancing light was the light of God. And
so, from the idea of a flat earth set on pillars, men
have come to the great truth that the earth is round
and hung in space.

For a man to get away from the old idea, to cut loose
the earth from all visible support and launch it forth
into space, his mind itself had to be cut loose, in a
sense, from all visible supports, and swung out into a
vast unknown. And it was truth which cut men's
minds loose, and set them free. "The truth shall make
you free." A mind thus set free from error was like

84 ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE

a ship loosed from its moorings, to sail the broad
oceans before it. It was like a bird beginning to mount
on its pinions to view more broadly the works of God.

To have such a narrow and mean conception of the
works of God as these men had, was to have, unavoid-
ably, a narrow and mean conception of God. God
wants every one to have true ideas of His works ; for
thereby the mind is led to true ideas of God. He has
given us revelations, in His Word, concerning these
things; but we learn so slowly! Ages ago the Lord
asked Job, "Whereupon are the sockets of the earth
made to sink?" Job 38:6, margin. And if the same
question had been asked the scientists of old, they
very probably would have said: "Sockets? The earth
has no sockets, much less anything upon which they
would be made to sink."

But we know that the question was not utterly lost
upon Job. He saw the pertinence of the question,
"Whereupon?" He had said previously, "He stretch-
eth out the north over the empty place, and hangeth
the earth upon nothing." Job 26:7. I^^ this, Job
attempted to tell whereupon the sockets of the earth
were made to sink. He said that the earth hangs on
nothing. Scientists have got about that far now.
They say that the earth hangs on no thing, but that
it is upheld by a pozver, which they call "gravitation."
Job said that God "hangeth the earth." In this, he
shows that indeed power suspends the earth, and more,
that this power is the power of God.

But Job evidently had not yet got the ultimate an-
swer in such a way that he could rest from further

THE EARTH IN SPACE 85

inquiries in that direction; for shortly afterward the
Almighty asked Job the ever unanswered question,
"Whereupon are the foundations of the earth made
to sink?" No matter what man's attainments, that
question, like all the others which God asked Job, is
forever beyond man's complete answering. We to-day
can answer the question no better than could Job. We
shall never be able to answer it fully. To answer com-
pletely any one of God's questions is to measure Him
on that one point. We shall never be able to do that.
The ultimate and full answers lie in the inscrutable
mind of the Creator Himself. One mystery cleared,
countless others, deeper and more baffling, appear.
"The rate of scientific progress increases from decade
to decade, and yet the new problems increase more
rapidly. The divine intellect can never be exhausted
by the human."

God wants man to know the truth in regard to all
He has done. He has lightened the earth and heaven
with His revelations ; He has given to men His Spirit ;
and He has left to them His Word, all flooded with
light. God thus reveals truth after truth with a lavish
hand. He tells us that the earth is not in the center
of the universe, but on the outskirts; that it is not
flat, but round; and that it is not supported by things
material, but by a power (which men call gravita-
tion, but) which God calls the power of His Word,
manifested through Jesus Christ.

These truths are revealed as truths having a bear-
ing upon the souls of men. Everywhere that God has
revealed a scientific truth, it is found to have a bearing

86 ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE

upon the eternal destiny of men. All truth is spiritual
truth. All truth is of God; and as God is a Spirit,
truth is spiritual. God Himself says that His Spirit
is the truth, (i John 5:6.) Then away forever with
the idea that there is any truth dissociated from God,
and which does not minister to the soul !

There is no truth but the truth of God ; and it saves
the soul. God has literally filled His world with facts,
the manifestation of truth. God scatters the light
as the farmer sows the seed, — not a few kernels, not
a few rays; He sows it. "Light is sown!' And He
scatters the light with the same intention with which
the farmer sows the seed; namely, that it may yield in-
crease. "Light is sown for the righteous!' Ps. 97 : ii.

God grant that we may be among these righteous
ones for whom the light is sown. God grant that we
may be the "wise," who "understand these things."
God grant that we may be the "prudent," who "know
them." Hosea 14:9. And God forbid that any of us
should be the "wicked," who "do wickedly" ; for "none
of the wicked shall understand." Dan. 12 : 10.

I

CHAPTER IX

The Impress of Light

*i"J'T is turned as clay to the seal; and they stand
as a garment." Job 38 : 14. For a long time,
I had thought that this verse in some way was
meant to teach the rotation of the earth. But when
I sat down to a consideration of the scripture, its
meaning seemed vague and indefinite. I at length de-
termined to make a careful analysis of its every shade
of meaning, and determine what it really does say.

I noticed that the verse asserts that something,
specified as "it," is turned. But what is that which is
turned? I concluded first of all to investigate the
word "turned." Shall it be translated, "It is changed,"
or, "It is rolled" ? Does the scripture mean that some-
thing is changed from one thing to another, or that
it is turned over or around? By some, it is rendered,
"It is changed as clay under the seal;" by others, "It
is rolled as clay to the seal." Which is preferable?
Which is correct?

I find that the original Hebrew word is haphak. It
is a primitive root, meaning, to turn about or over.

87

88 ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE

By implication, it may mean, to change, overturn, re-
form, pervert. I then went to other places in the Word
to ascertain its use. A few passages will show how
it is employed.

In Hosea 7:8, I read, "Ephraim, he hath mixed
himself among the people; Ephraim is a cake not
turned." Here we have a familiar scene brought to
view. The batter for a griddlecake is spread upon
the pan, and there it is left ; it is not turned over. The
word here used, unmistakably means to make at least
a half revolution.

In the thirty-seventh chapter of Job, — the chapter
preceding the one that contains the verse under con-
sideration,— we have this word used with two adverbs
that throw light upon its significance. "He scattereth
His bright cloud : and it is turned round about by His
counsels." Verses 11, 12. Then the words "round"
and "about" may follow this word. This shows that
it is sometimes used in the sense of revolve. In Job
9:5, we have a further illustration. "Which removeth
the mountains, and they know not : which overturneth
them in His anger." Here the word is rendered "over-
turneth," and the meaning is very manifest.

But we have a still more significant illustration of
the meaning of this word. "When Gideon was come,
behold, there was a man that told a dream unto his
fellow, and said, Behold, I dreamed a dream, and, lo,
a cake of barley bread tumbled into the host of Midian,
and came unto a tent, and smote it that it fell, and
overturned it, that the tent lay along." Judges 7: 13.
The words "tumbled" and "overturned" are both from

THE IMPRESS OF LIGHT 89

this Hebrew word haphak. The barley loaf rolled, or
tumbled, — turned over and over, — till it came to a
tent ; then the tent, being smitten, fell, was overturned,
and lay along.

Then there is no mistake. This word is often used
in the sense of turning over or around. It may mean
overturn, or turn over and over. It is translated
"tumble." It has in it the idea of rolling or revolving.
This is its first and inner meaning. Any other use is
by implication, and is therefore secondary ; it came as
an afterthought. And if you or I were writing in
the Hebrew, and wished to use a word to denote the
rotation of the earth, I think you will admit that we
would use the one employed in Job 38 : 14.

Then so far as the meaning of the word "turned"
in this verse is concerned, we see that it may be used
in the sense of revolve. And if the word "it" refers
to the earth, this verse declares that the earth is re-
volved, or turned around or over. But to what does
the word "it" refer? What is its antecedent? We
must go to the preceding verse to discover.

"It" is a pronoun, and therefore refers to some noun
used before. It stands for some thing under consid-
eration. Furthermore, "it" is singular, and therefore
a plural noun cannot be its antecedent. I find that
the twelfth verse begins the discussion ; therefore* the
twelfth or the thirteenth verse must name the thing
which in the fourteenth verse is mentioned as being
turned.

I find four singular nouns used — four single things
mentioned — in these two verses. The "it" must refer

90 ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE

to some one of the four. The things mentioned are
morning, dayspring, place, and earth. All the other
things mentioned are in the plural number, and would
require the pronoun "they" instead of the singular
pronoun "it." If we supply these words one after
another in the place of "it," we shall have these sen-
tences: The morning is turned as clay to the seal.
The dayspring is turned as clay to the seal. His place
is turned as clay to the seal. The earth is turned as
clay to the seal.

Only one of these sentences will make any sort of
sense. The figure is, "as clay to the seal." It is not,
"as seal to the clay." Keep the order carefully in
mind. The seal is not, as is usually the custom, turned
to the clay ; the figure is reversed. Why is it reversed ?
There must be some purpose in employing a figure
exactly the opposite of what is usual. If we had here
the usual process, something would be turned as a
seal is turned upon the clay to make its impression.

What a magnificent illustration this would be to
a flat-earth, stationary-earth, revolving-sun theorist!
The dayspring, the sun, is turned, as a seal to the
clay, to place its impression upon the earth! If the
earth is stationary, and the sun rolls around it, and if
the Bible is to affirm this, here is a noble chance
to do so.

We know that the sun does act upon the earth much
as a seal acts upon the clay. Wherever the sunlight
rests, the earth responds to its touch as clay responds
to the seal. This part of the picture seems very appro-
priate. But to suit our stationary-earth friends, the

THE IMPRESS OF UGHT 91

language should be, "It [the sun] is turned as the seal
to the clay." But it reads, "as clay to the seal."

Let us supply "earth" in the place of "it," and see
what meaning we gather. "It [the earth] is turned as
clay to the seal." The earth, by its daily rotation, is
turned to the sun as clay is turned to the seal. But to
state this scientific fact, it was necessary to rearrange
the figure, and state it in just the reverse of the usual
relation of the seal and the clay, to do which shows
careful thought. Consider this. A figure most happy
and appropriate is discovered. This is the figure of the
clay and the seal. But with clay and seal, the seal,
or signet ring, is turned to the clay, while in the case
of earth and sun, the reverse is true; that is, the
earth, the clay, is turned to the sun, the seal. There-
fore, to use the figure and be scientifically exact, it
was necessary to reverse the figure. This gives us
still all the lesson the figure can give, and it makes the
statement scientific ; but to one searching into its mean-
ing, it is at first a little puzzling. Yet, understanding
it, we must admire its wealth of thought, and the con-
ciseness and clearness of its language.

But what does the rest of the verse mean ? To what
does that last clause refer, — "and they stand as a gar-
ment" ?

Turning to the Revised Version, I read, "and all
things stand forth as a garment."

"And all things stand forth as in rich apparel." —
Noyes's translation.

"And they stand forth as in gay apparel." — Trans-
lation of the American Bible Union.

92 ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE

"And everything fashioneth itself as in a garment."
— Translation by Delitzsch.

"And that everything might appear there with new
garments." — Translation from the French, by Mrs.
H. R. Salisbury.

Do you catch the meaning? The earth is turned
as clay to the seal; and in catching its impression as
clay receives the impression of the seal, everything
grows green and beautiful under the influence of the
sunbeams.

"It is God that hath appointed the dayspring to visit
the earth (turns the earth to the light), and dififuseth
the morning light through the air, which receives it
as readily as the clay doth the seal (verse 14), imme-
diately admitting the impression of it, so as of a sud-
den to be all over enlightened by it, as the seal stamps
its image on the wax; and they stand as a garment,
or as if they were clothed with a garment. The earth
puts on a new face every morning, and dresseth itself,
as we do." — Matthew Henry.

"It is rolled (turned) as clay to the seal; and (all
things) stand forth as in splendid attire." — Transla-
tion by Prof. Homer R. Salisbury.

" Tt is rolled.' The 'it' refers to the earth, and the
verse speaks of the earth shone upon by the morning
sun." — Salisbury.

I believe that this verse states the relation of the
earth and the sun as truthfully as any living man can
put it. More than that, it states in few words all that
men have decided after years of study. The earth,
day by day, even hour by hour, by the rotation on its

THE IMPRESS OF LIGHT 93

axis and by the yearly journey in its orbit, is turned
to the sun. And the sun touches the earth with light,
and leaves there its impression, even as the seal touches
and impresses the clay.

And now, having studied this passage which declares
that the relation of earth and sun is that of clay to
seal, let us read a few lines from a noted scientist, and
see how nearly the same idea is expressed by him,
though no one would suppose that this verse from the
Bible was in his mind :

"Our world is a halting place where this energy
[from the sun] is conditioned. Here the Proteus
works his spells; one selfsame essence takes a million
shapes and hues, and finally dissolves into its primi-
tive and almost formless form. The sun comes to
us as heat; he quits us as heat; and between his en-
trance and departure the multiform powers of our
globe appear. They are all special forms of solar
power, — the molds into which the strength is tem-
porarily poured, in passing from its source through
infinitude/' — John TyndalL

Though these two illustrations are not identical,
they are aimed at the same great truth. The Bible
speaks of earth's myriad forms as the response of clay
to seal; they are the stamp of the sunlight upon the
earth. The scientist calls these forms molds into which
the sunlight is poured. Doubtless Tyndall himself
would admit that the Bible illustration gives far the
truer conception. Scientists never grow tired of tell-
ing how much we receive from the sun. I quote a
few paragraphs from a popular book :

94 ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE

"It is true that from the highest point of view the
sun is only one of a multitude, — a single star among
millions, — thousands of which probably exceed him
in brightness, magnitude, and power. He is only a
private in the host of heaven.

"But he alone, among the countless myriads, is near
enough to affect terrestrial affairs in any sensible de-
gree; and his influence upon them is such that it is
hard to find the word to name it ; it is more than mere
control and dominance. He does not, like the moon,
simply modify and determine more or less important
activities upon the surface of the earth, but he is al-
most absolutely, in a material sense, the prime mover
of the whole. To him we can trace directly nearly all
the energy involved in all phenomena, mechanical,
chemical, or vital. Cut off his rays for even a single
month, and the earth would die; all life upon its sur-
face would cease."

"There has always been a more or less distinct rec-
ognition of this fact. ...

"But while the material supremacy of the sun has
always been recognized by thoughtful minds, and has
even been made the foundation of religious systems,
as with the Persians, it has been reserved for more
modern times, and to our own century, to show clearly
just how, in what sense, and how far the sunbeams are
the life of the earth, and the sun himself the symbol
and viceregent of the Deity. The two doctrines of the
correlation of forces and the conservation of energy,
having once been distinctly apprehended and formu-
lated, it has been comparatively easy to conform them

THE IMPRESS OF LIGHT 95

by experiment and observation, and then to trace, one
by one, to their solar origin, the different classes of
energy which present themselves in terrestrial phe-
nomena— to show, for instance, how the power of
waterfalls is only a transformation of the sun's heat;
and that the same thing is true, a little more remotely,
but just as certainly, of the power of steam, of elec-
tricity, and even of animals. The idea is now so
familiar that it is hardly necessary to dwell upon it,
and yet, for some of our readers at least, it may be
worth while to examine it a little more closely.

"Whenever work is done, it is by the undoing of
some previous work. When a clock moves, it is the
unwinding of a spring or the falling of a weight
which keeps it going, and some one must have wound
it up to begin with. If the water of a river falls
year after year over a cataract, and it is intercepted
to drive our mill wheels, the river continues to run
because some power is continually raising and return-
ing to the hilltops the water which has flowed into the
sea — a process precisely equivalent to the daily re-
winding of the clock. If the powder in a rifle ex-
plodes and drives out the bullet, its explosive energy
depends upon the fact that some power has placed
the component molecules in such relation that, when
the trigger is pulled, and the exciting spark has, so
to speak, cut the bonds which hold them apart, they
rush together just as suspended weights would fall
if free.

"Before the same substance, which once was a charge
of gunpowder, but now is dust and gas, can again do

96 ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE

the same work, the products of the explosion must by
some power be decomposed, and the atoms replaced
in the same relation as before the firing of the gun;
and this process is mechanically analogous to the lift-
ing of fallen weights and placing them upon elevated
shelves, or hanging them from hooks, ready to drop
again when the occasion may require.

"Precisely the same thing is true of the heat pro-
duced by the combustion of ordinary fuel : It is due to
the collapse of molecules, for the most part of oxygen
on one side, and carbon and hydrogen on the other,
which have been separated and built up into structures
by the action of some laboring power.

"The same can be said of animal power, for all in-
vestigation goes to show that in a mechanical sense
the body of an animal is only a very ingenious and
effective machine, by means of which the living in-
habitant which controls it can utilize the energy de-
rived from the food taken into the stomach. The body,
regarded as a mechanism, is only a food engine in
which the stomach and lungs stand for the furnace and
boiler of a steam engine, the nervous system for the
valve gear, and the muscles for the cylinder. How
the personality within, which wills and acts, is put
into relation with this valve gear so as to determine
the movements of the body it resides in, is the in-
scrutable mystery of life; the facts in the case, how-
ever, being no less facts because inexplicable.

"And now, when we come to inquire for the source
of the energy which lifts the water from the sea to
the mountain top, which decomposes the carbonic acid

Anier. Mas. Nat. History, New York.

The Total Eclipse of the Sun, June 8, 1918
From the painting by Howard Russell Butler, N. A. The
corona and the prominences appear as observed through thin
clouds at the U. S. Naval Observatory Station, Baker, Oregon.

Tiih C(iLi» Atmosphere of Winter

THE IMPRESS OF LIGHT 97

of the atmosphere, and plant foods of the soil, and
builds up the hydrocarbons and other fuels of animal
and vegetable tissue, we find it always mainly in the
solar rays. I say mainly, because, of course, the light
and heat of the stars, the impact of meteors, and the
probable slow contraction of the earth, are all real
sources of energy, and contribute their quota. But,
as compared with the energy derived from the sun,
their total amount is probably something like the ratio
of starlight to sunlight; so small that it is quite clear,
as we said before, that a month's deprivation of the
solar rays would involve the utter destruction of all
activity upon the earth." — "The Sun/' Young,

All this is true enough. But while we keep in mind
the influence of the sun, let us not forget the other
side of the subject. The sun, it is true, acts with
marvelous power upon the earth; but suppose the
earth, like the moon, perhaps, did not respond to that
influence — what then? While we get a true value
of the position and power of the sun, let us not forget
that to the earth has been imparted the power to re-
spond to the sun's influence. If this power of re-
sponding had not been imparted to the earth, the sun
might shine here forever, without effect. But while
the sun, like the seal, can give its impression, the
earth, like the clay, has the power to respond.

If I should press a seal upon the hard surface of
a granite rock, there would be no impress. The granite
cannot respond to the seal. But when I place the seal
upon the softened, yielding, responsive clay, or wax,
I get an exact impression of the seal.

98 ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE

Scientists may well admire the power that the sun
exerts; but they should not forget this other great
fact, — that the earth is endowed with the ability to
respond to the sun's influence. We should have a
just conception of the sun as a motive power in the
earth; but it need not hide from our minds the fact
that the earth has its part to do in making the proper
response.

The sun must touch the earth and wake it to its
work, energize it in its labors. Without the sun, the
earth would remain passive, dead. It is like the lump
of passive clay: if it does not receive the stamp of
the seal, there will be no image. If the earth is not
touched by the sun, it, like the clay, must remain a
barren void.

The response of the clay has its part in forming
the image of the seal. And it is the response of the
earth to the sunlight that makes all terrestrial activity
possible. The sun must impress, but the earth must
respond. Let us take a few examples.

Suppose there were no air on the globe. The quan-
tity of vapor would almost instantly adjust itself to
any variation of temperature. The maximum amount
possible would thus always be present at a given
place.

"An elevation of temperature would be attended by
rapid evaporation, and the amount of water required
to fill the space would suddenly flash into vapor ; while,
on the other hand, a corresponding depression in tem-
perature would be accompanied with an equally sudden
precipitation of the excess of water which the air

THE IMPRESS OF LIGHT 99

could no longer contain, not in genial showers or dif-
fuse rain, but in terrific torrents, of which the delug-
ing showers of the tropics can give us only a feeble
conception; for the drops falling without resistance,
would be as destructive in their effect as volleys of
leaden shot." — Josiah P. Cooke, Erving professor of
chemistry and mineralogy in Harvard University.

Let us take another illustration. A general law of
nature is, that all substances are expanded by heat and
contracted by cold. Water, except within certain very
narrow limits, to be considered shortly, form no ex-
ception to the general rule. In fact, but for this ex-
pansion, it would be difficult to heat or cool large
quantities of liquids.

"All liquids are very poor conductors of heat, and
can be heated only by bringing their particles suc-
cessively in contact with the source of heat. When
you set a teakettle over a fire, the first effect of the
heat is to expand the particles of water resting on the
bottom of the kettle, which, being thus rendered spe-
cifically lighter, rise, and are succeeded by colder par-
ticles, which are heated and rise in their turn ; and thus
the circulation is established by which all the particles
are successively brought in contact with the heated
bottom of the kettle, and in the course of time the
temperature of the whole mass is raised to the boiling
point.

"The case is similar when you add ice to a pitcher
of water in order to cool it. The water at the top of
the pitcher, in contact with the ice, is, of course, cooled,
and being rendered specifically heavier than the water

100 ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE

below, sinks and gives place to the warmer water,
which is cooled and sinks in its turn, and thus, as
before, a circulation is established, which continues
until the temperature of the whole water is reduced
to 40°. But at this point, the circulation is entirely
arrested; for in consequence of its singular constitu-
tion, water at 39° is lighter than water at 40°, and con-
sequently remains at the top. And so it is as the tem-
perature sinks toward the freezing point. The colder
the water, the lighter it becomes, and the more per-
sistently it remains at the surface. Hence, although
the upper layers of water may be readily cooled to the
freezing point, yet, in consequence of its poor con-
ducting power, the great body of the liquid will re-
main at the temperature of 40°.

"The cold atmosphere of winter acts upon the ponds
and lakes exactly as the ice on the water in the pitcher.
They also are cooled from the surface, and a circula-
tion is established by the constant sinking of the chilled
water until the temperature falls to 40°. But at this
point, still eight degrees above the freezing point, the
circulation stops. The surface water, as it cools below
this temperature, remains at the top, and in the end
freezes; but then comes into play still another pro-
vision in the properties of water. Most substances are
heavier in their solid than in their liquid state; but
ice, on the contrary, is lighter than water, and there-
fore floats on its surface. Moreover, as ice is a very
poor conductor of heat, it serves as a protection to the
lake, so that at the depth of a few feet, at most, the

THE IMPRESS OF LIGHT 101

temperature of the water during the winter is never
under 40°, although the atmosphere may continue for
weeks below zero.

"If water resembled other liquids, and continued to
contract with cold to its freezing point, — if this ex-
ception had not been made, — the whole order of na-
ture would have been reversed. The circulation just
described would continue until the mass of water in
the lake had fallen to the freezing point. The ice
would then first form at the bottom, and the congela-
tion would continue until the whole lake had been
changed into one mass of solid ice. Upon such a
mass, the hottest summer would produce but little
effect ; for the poor conducting power would then pre-
vent its melting, and instead of ponds and lakes, we
should have large masses of ice, which during the
summer would melt on the surface to a depth of only
a few feet.

"It is unnecessary to state that this condition of
things would be utterly inconsistent with the existence
of aquatic plants or animals, and it would be almost
as fatal to organic life everywhere; for not only are
all the parts of the creation so indissolubly bound
together that, if one member suffers, all the other
members suffer with it, but moreover, the soil itself
would, to a certain extent, share in the fate of the
ponds. The soil is always more or less saturated with
water, and, under existing conditions, in our temperate
zone, the frost does not penetrate to a sufficient depth
to kill the roots and seeds of plants which are buried
under it. But were water constituted like other liquids,

102 ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE

the soil would remain frozen to the depth of many
feet, and the only effect of the summer's heat would
be to melt a few inches at the surface.

"It would be, perhaps, possible to cultivate some
hardy annuals in such a climate, but this would be all.
Trees and shrubs could not brave the severity of the
winter. Thus, then, it appears that the very existence
of life in these temperate regions of the earth depends
on an apparent exception to a general law of nature,
so slight and limited in its extent that it can only be
detected by the most refined scientific observation." —
Josiah P. Cooke, Erving professor of chemistry and
mineralogy in Harvard University.

These illustrations are sufficient to show us how
things terrestrial are adapted to, and respond to, the
sun and its heat. It is true that the heat of combus-
tion, the energy of life, the thunder of the express
train, are but sun power working in some other form.
This is all wonderful. But that the things of earth
are adapted to this energy and are able to employ this
sun power is no small part of the wonder.

And in the study of this adaptation of sun to earth,
and earth to sun, with all their multiform phenomena,
there is science enough for any man, though he lived
for untold ages. But the earth is only one planet out
of eight, we know; and each planet carries its own
wealth of mysteries and wonders. And the sun is only
one out of millions in the universe. What a wealth,
then, of adaptations of suns and planets, and planets
and suns ! What interweaving of power and influence,
of impression and of response ! How marvelous the

THE IMPRESS OF LIGHT 103

structure of the universe ! What a field for the human
mind! What infinite problems and untold mysteries!
What countless truths ever being revealed, yet never
fully understood !

"It is turned." The earth is turned by some agency.
The words are not, "It turns," but instead, "It is
turned/' This puts the agency, the power, not in the
earth, but outside the earth. Therefore that science
is wrong which teaches that the earth makes these
movements through its own inherent energy. Then
by what power is it turned? I answer the question
in the words of another:

"It is not by an original power inherent in nature
that year by year the earth produces its bounties, and
the world keeps its continual march around the sun.
The hand of infinite pozver is perpetually at work
guiding this planet. It is God's power momentarily
exercised that keeps it in position in its rotations. The
God of heaven is constantly at work." — Mrs. E. G.
White.

Science is correct in saying that the earth moves
around the sun; it is correct in saying that the earth
rotates; but it runs into error when it seeks to show
that the earth so moves through inherent energy, and
that in this work, it is sufficient unto itself. He that
made "the seven stars and Orion" (Amos 5:8), and
hung "the earth upon nothing" (Job 26:7), that
"meted out heaven with the span, and comprehended
the dust of the earth in a measure" (Isa. 40: 12), that
brings out the host of heaven by number, calling them
all by their names, in "the greatness of His might"

104 ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE

(verse 26), He it is who sends the earth upon its des-
tined way.

Ever and ever the earth, as the Word declares, is
turned to the sun, as clay to the seal. And ever and
ever, like the clay, the earth responds to the touch of
the sunlight, "and all things stand forth in splendid
apparel." The sun" paints the earth with the hues of
its light reflected in sky and cloud, in the tinting of the
flowers and the verdure of the fields. It stamps the
earth with the impress of its light and heat, and vege-
tation starts forth as at the touch of a magic wand.
Energized by its power, and made radiantly glorious
in its light, the earth rolls on its destined way, keeping
time to "the music of the spheres."

CHAPTER X

Celestial Magnitudes

44

L

O, these are but the outlying borders of His
works; and how small a whisper do we hear
of Him ! But the thunder of His power who
can understand?" — Job.

"The planetary system occupies a portion of space
nearly six thousand millions of miles across, yet this
immense distance seems to be but a mere speck in im-
mensity. Compared with the nebula of Orion alone,
which is only a spot in the heavens, it is a mere point ;
and outside of the planetary system are a multitude of
shining orbs, some radiant with splendor, some faintly
glimmering with beauty. The smallest telescopic aid
suffices to increase their number in an incredible de-
gree, while with the full power of the grand instru-
ments now in use, the scenes presented in the starry
heavens become actually so magnificent as to stun the
imagination and overwhelm the reason. Worlds and
systems and schemes and clusters and universes rise
in sublime perspective, fading away in the unfathom-
able regions of space, until even thought itself fails

105

106 ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE

in its efforts to plunge across the gulf by which we
are separated from those wonderful objects." — Gen.
O. M. Mitchel.

It is quite impossible to get any proper idea of star
distances. Miles are far too small as units in the
great computation necessary to express these dis-
tances. A larger unit becomes absolutely necessary.
Astronomers have therefore employed the light unit,
or light year. Light seems almost instantaneous ; but
so far as our eyes are concerned, it really takes time
to travel. Its velocity has been measured many times,
by many different persons, and by a number of
thoroughly reliable methods ; and the results are quite
uniform, showing that it travels at a rate of 186,000
miles a second, or a little over 11,000,000 miles a
minute. The distance that light would thus travel in
a year is obtained by multiplying 16,070,400,000 miles,
one day's travel, by 365, or 5,865,696,000,000 miles.
This is the light year ; it is the unit for measuring dis-
tances to the fixed stars. It is to the astronomer what
feet are to the carpenter, or what rods are to the sur-
veyor.

The immense distance over which light can move in
a year is inconceivable to us. Yet there are stars so
far removed from us that it takes their light hundreds
of years to reach us. Some of the distances from us
to these stars have actually been measured.

'Tn case a luminous body were to be suddenly called
into being, and located in space at the distance of 11,-
160,000 of miles from the eyes of an observer who
was on the lookout for its light, this light would not

CELESTIAL MAGNITUDES 107

reach him until one minute after the creation of the
object; and should it suddenly be struck from exist-
ence, the observer would behold it for one minute after
the extinction."

And now just a few words as to the parallax of the
fixed stars. 'If it were possible to measure on the
earth's surface a base line of a thousand miles in
length, by locating an observer at each extremity of
this base with instruments suitable to fix the moon's
place among the fixed stars, the telescopes of these
two observers, directed to the moon's center at the
same instant, would incline toward each other, and
the visual ray from each of these instruments would
meet at the moon's center, and form an angle with
each other."

This gives a triangle whose angles are marked by
the moon at the apex, an observer at each end of the
base line. One observer sees the moon from one
direction, and the other observer sees it from another
direction. That is, to each observer, the moon seems
to be in a different spot in the sky. This displace-
ment, or difference in direction, owing to the different
position of the eye that views it, is called the parallax.

A very simple experiment will help you to see that
a change in the viewpoint will produce an apparent
change of position in the object under observation.
For example, look toward the wall of one side of your
room; hold the index finger of your hand erect in
front of you, at some distance from your face, and
close the left eye. You will now see that your finger
covers a certain spot on the wall, as at A. Do not

108 ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE

move your finger, but open your left eye, and close
your right. The finger will seem to change its posi-
tion to the right, and cover another spot on the wall,
as at B. In the language of astronomy, this apparent
change in the position of your finger is called its
parallax.

The apparent change in the position of the moon
is called the lunar parallax, that of the stars is called
the stellar parallax.

In the measurement of the triangle before mentioned,
the value of the base line is known, being marked by
the position of the two observers. By the methods
of trigonometry, given the base line and the opposite
angles, it is a very simple matter to ascertain the
length of either side, which in this case would be the
distance from the observer to the moon.

"Parallax, then, in general, is the apparent change
in the place of an object, occasioned by the real change
in the place of the spectator."

With the sun, the moon, and the planets, a base
line equal to the diameter of the earth, or about eight
thousand miles, has sufficed to give a sensible and
measurable parallax ; but when we attempt by this base
line to detect a movement on the part of the stars, we
fail utterly. If we view a star with the proper instru-
ment, and measure its position in the heavens, and
move eight thousand miles from that spot and make
another measurement, we find our two angles the
same. With a base line only eight thousand miles
in length, we can detect no apparent movement on
the part of the star; it has no parallax. If the star

CELESTIAL MAGNITUDES 109

were anywhere within 160,000 times the length of our
base Hne, or 1,280,000,000 miles, we should have been
able to detect a movement. Therefore the star is more
than one billion two hundred and eighty millions of
miles away; but how much outside of this, we have
no idea until we have made other calculations.

To assist us to understand how small must be the
stellar parallax, we have but to consider that the paral-
lax of the moon is 57'; Venus and Mars, 40"; and
the sun, only 8.8".

But can we get no longer base line than this eight
thousand miles? We have made one observation on
one side of the earth, and another on the opposite side
of the earth, and these two points are eight thousand
miles apart. Can we find a longer base line? — Yes.
We may make an observation at a given date, wait
just half a year till the earth has carried us half around
her orbit to a spot in space precisely opposite to our
first observation, and here we may take a second. Our
base line now is a straight line through space, inter-
sected at its center by the sun, and hence measures in
length twice the distance from earth to sun, or about
one hundred and eighty-five millions of miles. We
now have a base line more than twenty-three thousand
times as long as before. Surely with such a change
in our position, we shall be able to detect an apparent
movement of the star.

But even with this immense base line, men sought
for years to find the parallax, before they were at
length successful. "The efforts to obtain the distance
of the stars had been unavailing. ... A negative solu-

110 ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE

tion had indeed been reached. That their distance was
enormous, was made evident from the fact that the
parallax had remained insensible, even under the most
careful and delicate instrumental tests. Any absolute
solution began almost to be despaired of, when hope
was again revived by the magnificent refracting tele-
scopes, for which the world was indebted to the skill
and genius of the celebrated Fraunhofer, of Munich.
This great artist, aided by the profound science of
Bessel, contrived and executed an instrument of ex-
traordinary power, and especially adapted to the re-
search for the parallax of the fixed stars.

"Armed with micrometrical apparatus of wonder-
ful precision, and capable of executing measures of
great as well as minute distances, the telescope was
so arranged as to be carried forward by delicate ma-
chinery, with a velocity exactly equal to the diurnal
motion of the object under examination. To give
some idea of the delicacy of the contrivance with which
these telescopes have been provided, it is necessary only
to state that the micrometer of the great refractory of
the Cincinnati Observatory is capable of dividing an
inch into 80,000 equal parts! When mechanical in-
genuity failed to construct lines of mathematical mi-
nuteness, the spider lent his aid, and it is with fibers
of his delicate web that these measures are accom-
pUshed. Two parallel threads of a spider's web are
adjusted in the focus of the eyepiece of the microme-
ter, and when the light of a small lamp is thrown upon
them, the eye, on looking through the telescope, sees
two minute golden wires, straight and beautiful, drawn

CELESTIAL MAGNITUDES 111

across the center of the field of view, and pictured
upon the heavens. These are within the control of
the observer. He can increase or decrease their dis-
tance at pleasure, and so revolve them as to bring them
into any position, every motion being accurately
measured by properly divided scales.

"Suppose, then, it is desired to take the distance
and position of the stars forming a pair. The tele-
scope is directed to them, and they are brought to the
center of the field of view. The clockwork is set in
action; it takes up the ponderous instrument, weigh-
ing more than 2,500 pounds, and with the most as-
tonishing accuracy it bears it onward, keeping its
mighty eye fixed on the object under examination.
The observer is thus left with both hands free to make
his measures. He first revolves his micrometer spider's
lines round until one of them shall exactly pass from
center to center of the two stars. This position is
noted, and from it is deducted the angle framed by
this line with the meridian. He then revolves them
a quarter of the circumference, and they are perpen-
dicular to their former position. He now separates
the wires until the one shall exactly bisect one star,
while the other wire passes through the center of the
second star, reading this distance on the proper scale.
He has fixed, in these two observations, the position
and distance of the two components of the double
set. Such is the precision attained in this work, that
the most minute motions cannot escape detection. If
the stars separate from each other at so slow a rate
that a million of years would be required to perform

112 ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE

the circuit of the heavens, their motion would be de-
tected in half a year.

"With machinery more delicate even than this, and
better adapted to the purpose, and of a kind some-
what different, Bessel once more renewed the re-
search after the unattainable parallax of the fixed
stars. His great instrument, called the heliometer,
was mounted as early as 1829, but a multitude of
causes and some unsuccessful efforts delayed his prin-
cipal operations up to August, 1837. Three great
principles guided him in his selection of 61 in the Swan
as the star on which to perform his observations.
First, it was affected by a very great proper motion,
. . . which indicated it to be among the nearest of all
the stars. Second, its duplex character adapted it
especially to the instrument he was about to employ.
Third, the region occupied by 61 Cygni contains a
number of minute stellar points, close to the double
star, and presenting admirable fixed points, to which
the relative motion of the two components of the star
to be measured might be referred.

"With these advantages, and a magnificent instru-
ment, Bessel commenced his observations. He meas-
ured the distance from the center of the line joining
the two stars, to two of the small stellar points, which
served him as points of reference; and this kind of
observation was repeated night after night, whenever
the stars were visible, from the middle of August,
1837, up to the end of September, 1838. The entire
series of observations was then taken and corrected
for every possible known error, and in case any ap-

At the Eyepiece of a Large Telescope

Sa

A Segment of the Corona of the Sun
P^rom a pholograph taken at the ]\Iount Wilson Observatory,
in southern California, when the sun was in total eclipse.

CELESTIAL MAGNITUDES 113

preciable change remained, it could only be attributed
to parallax.

"After a most careful and elaborate investigation,
a variation commenced to show itself, increasing pre-
cisely as parallactic variation ought to increase, and
diminishing as it ought to diminish. The period of
these changes was precisely a year, and in all particu-
lars there was an exact correspondence in kind with
the changes which ought to be produced by parallax.
But such was their minute character that Bessel hesi-
tated.

'^During another year, the observations were re-
peated. The same results came out and the previous
values were confirmed. A third year's observations,
yielding precisely the same values, removed all doubt,
and the great Konigsberg philosopher announced to
the world that he had passed the impassable gulf of
space, and had measured the distance to the fixed
stars! But how shall I convey any adequate idea of
this stupendous distance? Millions and millions of
miles serve only to confound the mind. Let us employ
a different kind of unit.

"Light, as we have seen, travels at a velocity of
11,160,000 miles every minute of time. Hence to
reach us from the most remote of all the planets, Nep-
tune, whose distance from the sun is about 2,791,600,-
000 miles, will require a journey of slightly over four
hours; but to wing its flight across the interval which
separates our sun from 61 Cyg^i, will require a period
not to be reckoned by hours, nor by days, nor months.
Nearly ten years of time must roll away before its

114 ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE

flight, flying in every second 186,000 miles, can com-
plete its mighty journey!

"If the mind revolts at this conclusion; if the dis-
tance be too great for comprehension; if the scale of
the universe thus suggested even staggers the imagina-
tion, I can only say that all subsequent observation has
confirmed in the most satisfactory manner the accuracy
of Bessel's results. This great astronomer first led
the way across the mighty gulf which separates us
from the fixed stars. The distance once passed, the
route has become comparatively easy, and succeeding
observers have determined the parallax of a sufficient
number of stars to show that their results are entirely
trustworthy." — Gen. O. M. Mitchel.

The polestar, or north star, one of the most distant
measured, is between forty-five and sixty light-years
from us ; that is, the light from the polestar, speeding
at the rate of over eleven millions of miles a minute,
occupies from forty-five to sixty years in measuring
the distance between the star and us. Yet such enor-
mous distances are as mere points compared with the
awful measure of space itself.

Another star, Alpha Centauri, was observed for its
parallax in 1842 and in 1851, by two different observ-
ers. The first result was 3.6, and the second 3.5, Hght
years. "Observations made to determine whether the
star shows any sign of an annual change of place cor-
responding to the earth's annual orbital motion, were
rewarded by the detection of a very appreciable dis-
placement. In fact, owing to the motion of the earth,
each year, in a nearly circular orbit 185,000,000 miles

CELESTIAL MAGNITUDES 115

in diameter, the star Alpha Centauri appears to trace
out each year a minute oval path on the celestial sphere,
the greater axis of the oval being equal in length to
about %oo part of the moon's apparent diameter.

"It follows from this that in round numbers the
distance of Alpha Centauri from us is about twenty
milHons of millions of miles. The distance of the
earth from the sun shrinks into insignificance beside
this enormous gap. Even Neptune, though circling
round the sun at a distance thirty times farther than
that which separates us from that luminary, is yet
relatively so much nearer than Alpha Centauri, that
a sun filling the whole orbit of Neptune would appear,
as seen from that star, but about %oo as large as the
sun appears to us." — Richard Proctor.

Do not miss this. Let us put it in another way :
If the sun were so large that it reached out on all sides
as far as to the orbit of Neptune, — in other words,
if it were a blazing sun 5,583 millions of miles in
diameter, — seen from Alpha Centauri, it would appear
but %oo as large as the sun appears to us; it would
seem like a mere point of light in space.

Viewed at such stupendous distances as only as-
tronomy comprehends, systems and universes seem
to dwindle to mere pin points when related to some
distant parts. "It is found by the most eminent as-
tronomers of the age, and the most perfect instruments
ever made, that the parallax of the nearest stars does
not exceed the four-thousandth part of a degree, or a
single second." Alpha Centauri is the nearest, having
a parallax of .9 of a second, "so that, if the whole great

116 ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE

orbit of the earth were lighted up into a globe of fire
600 millions of miles in circumference, it would be
seen by the nearest star only as a twinkling atom ; and
to an observer placed at this distance, our sun, with
its whole retinue of planetary worlds, would occupy
a space scarcely exceeding the thickness of a fiber of
a spider's web." — Burritt.

Thus whole systems, as that of our sun, "dwindle
to mere pin points" as viewed from some distant fixed
star. This is what astronomy says; but the Word of
God goes further, for it mentions all the visible stars
of heaven, and asserts that these, all that are within
our view, are but the extremities of the lines of His
works — that is, mere points, as seen from the immense
distances of His universe. Not merely that the whole
space included within the orbit of Neptune is a mere
extremity of a line as seen from some distant confine
of space, but that all the visible heavens are but mere
points when compared with the rest of God's works.
And all this was stated as long ago as the days of
Job. In spite of the gigantic strides of modern as-
tronomy, the old Bible is still ahead, and so far ahead
that science may well despair of ever overtaking it.

Getting some idea of the import of parallax, we are
better able to understand James i : 17. These con-
siderations impart a force and sublimity to the ex-
pression of the apostle, which no power of v/ords could
improve. In the passage, it is stated literally that
with God there "is no parallax nor shadow of turning."
"As if the apostle had said, peradventure, that in trav-
eling millions and millions of miles through the re-

CELESTIAL MAGNITUDES 111

gions of immensity, there may be a sensible parallax
to some of the fixed stars; yet as to the Father of
lights, view Him from whatever point ... we may,
He is without parallax or shadow of change."

Thus does inspiration anticipate the discoveries of
science, by seizing upon the very words of science and
giving them a meaning that will ever grow grander
and more sublime as our knowledge advances toward
the true conception. What a magnificent picture of
the immutability of God! It will require all eternity
to fathom the meaning of this one passage (James i :
17), for all the universe is employed to illustrate its
significance. Thus does God pack an eternity of
meaning into His words, and load a whole universe
of science into the infinite truths of the Scriptures.
Therein has He revealed His eternal purpose. This
is a textbook that can never grow old, a science that
can never be exhausted.

But how much of an idea have we even now of the
immensity of the universe? All our efforts to under-
stand the tremendous distances only confuse and as-
tonish the mind. But though this is so, let us make one
more attempt to get a view of space. Let us take an
imaginary journey to some of the visible stars.

"If it were possible, to-night, to wing our flight to
any one of the bright stars which blaze around us,
sweeping away from our own system until planet after
planet fades in the distance, and finally the sun itself
shrinks into a mere star, we might alight on a strange
world that circles around a new and magnificent sun,
which has grown and expanded in our sight until it

118 ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE

blazes with a magnificence equal to that of our own.
Here we pause, and look out upon the starry heavens
which surround us.

"We have passed over sixty millions of millions of
miles. We have reached a new system of worlds, re-
volving about another sun; and from this remote
point, we have a right to expect a new heaven, as well
as a new earth on which we stand. But no; lift up
your eyes, and lo! the old familiar constellations are
all there. Yonder blazes Orion, with its rich and gor-
geous belt; there comes Arcturus, and yonder the
Northern Bear circles his ceaseless journey round the
pole. All is unchanged, and the mighty distance over
which we have passed is but the thousandth part of the
entire diameter of this grand cluster of suns and sys-
tems, the Milky Way. Although we have swept from
our sun to one of the nearest fixed stars, 6i Cygni, and
have traveled a distance which light itself cannot trav-
erse in less than ten years, the change wrought by this
mighty journey, in the appearance of the heavens, is
no greater than would be produced in the relative posi-
tions of the persons composing this audience to a
person near its center, who should change his seat
with his immediate neighbor.

"Such, then, is the scale on which the starry heavens
are built. If, in examining the magnificent orbits of
the remoter planets, and in tracing the interminable
career of some of the far-sweeping comets, we feared
that there might not be room for the accomplishment
of their vast orbits, our fears are now at an end."
There is infinite room.

CELESTIAL MAGNITUDES 119

'It has been considered probable, from recondite in-
vestigations, that the average distance of a star of the
first magnitude from the earth is nine hundred and
eighty-six thousand radii of our annual orbit, or nine
hundred and eighty-six thousand times ninety-two
million miles, a distance which light would require
fifteen and a half years to traverse; and further, that
the average distance of the sixth magnitude (the small-
est distinctly seen without a telescope) is seven mil-
lion six hundred thousand times the same unit, to
traverse which, light, with its prodigious velocity,
would occupy more than one hundred and twenty
years. If, then, the distances of the majority of the
stars visible to the naked eye are so enormously great,
how are we to estimate our distance from those mi-
nute points of light discernible only in the powerful
telescopes?" — Hind's ''Astronomy," quoted in "The
International Cyclopedia."

Thus do the starry systems about us seem to be but
suburbs of a vast creation. Whichever way we may
turn our eyes, and no matter how powerful we make
our sight, there is always something shining beyond
our farthest reaches into the unending universe of
God. Job was right ; and with him we cry, "Lo, these
are but the extremities of the lines of His works ; and
how little a whisper do we hear of Him! But the
thunder of His power who can understand?"

"God called up from dreams a man into the vestibule
of heaven, saying, 'Come thou hither, and see the
glory of My house.' And to the servants that stood
around His throne He said, 'Take him, and undress

120 ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE

him from his robes of flesh; cleanse his vision, and
put a new breath into his nostrils : only touch not with
any change his human heart, — the heart that weeps
and trembles.' It was done : and with a mighty angel
for his guide, the man stood ready for his infinite
voyage; and from the terraces of heaven, without
sound of farewell, at once they wheeled into endless
space.

"Sometimes with the solemn flight of angel wing
they fled through Zaarahs of darkness, through wil-
dernesses of death that divided the worlds of life.
. . . Then, from a distance that is counted only in
heaven, light dawned for a time through a sleepy film ;
by unutterable space the light swept to them, they by
unutterable space to the light. In a moment, the rush-
ing of planets was upon them; and in a moment, the
blazing of suns was around them.

"Then came eternities of twilight, that revealed, but
were not revealed. On the right hand and on the left
towered mighty constellations . . . that seemed ghostly
from infinitude. Without measure were the archi-
traves, past numbers were the archways, beyond mem-
ory the gates. Within were stars that scaled the
eternities below; above was below, below was above,
to the man stripped of gravitating body. Depth was
swallowed up in height insurmountable; height was
swallowed up in depth unfathomable. Suddenly as
thus they tilted over abysmal worlds, — a mighty cry
arose, — that systems more mysterious, that worlds
more billowy, other heights and other depths, were
coming, were nearing, were at hand.

CELESTIAL MAGNITUDES 121

"Then the man sighed, and stopped, shuddered, and
wept. His overladen heart uttered itself in tears, and
he said: 'Angel, I will go no farther; for the spirit
of man acheth with this infinity. Insufferable is the
glory of God. Let me lie down in the grave, and hide
me from the persecution of the infinite ; for end, I see,
there is none.' And from the listening stars that
shone around issued a choral voice: 'The man speaks
truly: end there is none that ever yet we heard of.*
'End is there none?' the angel solemnly demanded; 'is
there no end? And this is the sorrow that kills you?'
But no voice answered, that he might answer himself.
Then the angel threw up his glorious hands to the
heavens of heavens, saying: 'End there is none to the
universe of God. Lo, also, there is no beginning !' " —
Richter.

CHAPTER XI

The Infinitude of Space

IT is impossible for the human mind to put any
limit to space. We run out into the unfathomable
abyss as far as imagination will carry us, and
when we have reached the utmost limit, and imagina-
tion carries us no farther, we cannot say to ourselves,
"Here is the end;" for immediately the only barrier
we can conceive is something like a huge wall, and
beyond this exists still untraced and immeasurable
space. We can imagine as much beyond our limit as
exists this, side of that limit ; and we can call this dis-
tance a unit, and multiply it by any factor that we
are pleased to choose, — a thousand, a million, or a bil-
lion,— and still we can think of as much space beyond
as that which we have covered by our multiplication.
Mathematically the human mind can find no limit
to space. From this fact of mind, many argue that
there can be no limit to space, — that it extends out
beyond forever, like eternity. But when we come to
this decision, the mind is struck with the awful dis-
closure,— space without any limitation whatever ! The

122

THE INFINITUDE OF SPACE 123

mind grows dizzy with the thought ; the heart is dumb
with awe. Can it be so? Is there no limit to space?

We will suppose it is evening. Look yonder at the
Milky Way. "A band, or irregular stream, of soft
light is perceived, with stars at intervals dotting its
surface. We get an opera glass, and look through it.
Behold, many more stars are visible, with the band of
light still beyond. We get a small telescope, and look
through that. Very many stars may be counted; and
still the band of soft light shines beyond. We go to an
observatory, where a large telescope may be found;
and through its great tube, countless stars gleam forth,
hundreds and thousands of them, where first, with the
naked eye, we saw only a few twinkling specks; yet,
still the band of light shines on beyond, unchanged.
Lastly, we go to America, and observe the Milky Way
with the most powerful telescope yet made. A won-
drous company of innumerable stars gUtter; yet, still,
beyond and behind, we have, as ever, the dim, soft
light, not even now done away, not even now resolved
wholly into stars." — Agnes Giberne.

Can we ever get to the end of it — this vast uni-
verse? Can we ever be able, no matter what our
powers, to say, "This is the limit ; we have seen every-
thing in this direction"? Is there no Hmit to space?
Have we no certain answer to this question ?

"Suppose that one of the highest order of intelli-
gences is endowed with a power of rapid motion su-
perior to that of light (186,000 miles a second), and
with a corresponding degree of intellectual energy;
that he has been flying without intermission for six

124 ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE

thousand years, and will continue the same rapid course
for a thousand million years to come. It is highly
probable, if not absolutely certain, that, at the end
of his vast tour, he would have advanced no farther
than the 'suburbs of creation,' and that all the mag-
nificent systems of material and intellectual beings he
had surveyed during his rapid flight, and for such a
length of ages, bear no more proportion to the whole
empire of Omnipotence than the smallest grain of sand
does to all the particles of matter contained in the ten
thousand worlds.

''Were a seraph, in prosecuting the tour of creation
in the manner now stated, ever to arrive at a limit
beyond which no further displays of divinity could
be perceived, the thought would overwhelm his facul-
ties with unutterable emotions; he would feel that he
had now, in some measure, comprehended all the plans
and operations of Omnipotence, and that no further
manifestations of the divine glory remained to be ex-
plored. But we may rest assured that this can never
happen in the case of any created intelligence."

And now the brain, lost in the frightful sweep of its
thought, fairly swims in its efforts to comprehend the
infinite. But is this all true ? — It seems true ; it seems
reasonable, and almost certain. But in answer to this
question, have we naught but speculations, and reason-
ings, and almost certain probabilities? Is there no
word from God ? — Yes. Wondering and questioning,
I turn to His Word, and read : "Thus saith the Lord ;
// heaven above can he measured, ... I will also
cast off all the seed of Israel for all that they have

THE INFINITUDE OF SPACE 125

done, saith the Lord." Jer. 31 : 37. Ah, my soul, that
Word must be sure! "Saith the Lord" comes as the
introduction, and "saith the Lord" follows as the
close. "Thus saith the Lord; If heaven above can be
measured, ... I will also cast off all the seed of Israel
for all that they have done, saith the Lord." "Saith
the Lord" and "saith the Lord" — surely this must be
true !

And what is it that the Lord says ? — He says that
if heaven above can be measured, — not if you or some-
body else can measure it, but if it can be measured, no
matter how, — He will give Israel up, and thereby
acknowledge that He has failed. If even His works
can be measured by His creatures, then He acknowl-
edges that He will no longer appear before them as
God. It will go on record that God has failed. But
blessed be His name, He cannot fail. He "never fail-
eth." I Cor. 13:8. ''He shall not fail nor be dis-
couraged." Isa. 42 : 4. "Thus saith God the Lord, He
that created the heavens, and stretched them out ; . . .
I the Lord have called thee in righteousness, and will
hold thine hand, and zvill keep thee. ... I am the
Lord : that is My name : and My glory will I not give
to another.'' Isa. 42 : 5-8. Israel will not be cast off,
and therefore the heavens cannot be measured. One
is as sure as the other, and each is as sure as God is
true.

Space is immeasurable, and God has taken this fact
as the everlasting foundation of one of His promises.
Thus does He link His Word and His works. And
when you think of the awful infinitude of space, will

126 ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE

it help you to realize the surety of His covenant? As
you look out yonder into the abyss that reaches onward
to the stars, — yea, that stretches into an expanse as
measureless as eternity, — will your soul rise to the
thought that thus there is no limit to all that He will
do for your soul? God help us all to realize that
forever and ever we shall be unable to see all that
there is to see of His goodness, and of "the exceeding
riches of His grace in His kindness toward us through
Christ Jesus," even as we see, and ever as we see, that
there is no limit to the infinite fullness of His works.
May God's promises be to us all this. And filled
with thoughts of the majestic and stupendous power
that upholds the soul that trusts in God, like Jeremiah
when the truth was first revealed to him, may we say :
"Ah Lord God! behold, Thou hast made the heaven
and the earth by Thy great power and stretched out
arm, and there is nothing too hard for Thee." Jer.
32 : 17.

CHAPTER XII

As the Moon

WHENEVER you consult an almanac to know
when there will be a full moon, or to know
when the moon will rise or when it will set,
and when you consult a table of the tides to learn the
time of the high or the low tide, you are in that study-
ing, though it may be unconsciously, a commentary
on one of the verses in the Bible. You are simply
showing your practical reliance upon a great fact, and
that is the faithfulness of the moon. *'Once have I
sworn by My holiness that I will not lie unto David.
His seed shall endure forever. ... It shall be estab-
lished forever as the moon, and as a faithful witness
in heaven." Ps. 89 : 35-37.

The moon is a faithful witness in the heavens.
Through the ages, it has kept its appointed place, fol-
lowed its destined path, and never disappointed hu-
manity. Our astronomers have mapped its orbit, have
outlined its course years ahead; they tell us when it
will be new, when it will wax old, just how long it will
be in each quarter, just what part of the heavens it

127

128 ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE

will occupy; and this is possible because it keeps its
way steadfastly, faithfully, never erratic, never whim-
sical, never doing anything unexpected or unan-
nounced. It is a faithful witness in heaven.

This faithfulness is not due merely to the perfection
of the machinery of the solar system. It is rather a
reflection of the perfection and faithfulness of Him
who ordained it. God is the cause of the uniformity
of nature. He it is who has made the universe what
it is, and given us its stability, perfection, and en-
durance.

David speaks of the moon in words like these:
"When I consider Thy heavens, the work of Thy
fingers, the moon and the stars, which Thou hast or-
dained; what is man, that Thou art mindful of him?
and the son of man, that Thou visitest him?" Ps.

8:3,4.

This question is asked, not by one who believed
what the heathen believed, — that the earth was set in
the center of a crystal globe, and that out not so very
far away there were lights which were lighted at night
and extinguished in the morning, — a child's picture
of the universe. No, indeed !

These are words spoken by one inspired by the
Spirit of God, that Spirit which searches all things,
even "the deep things of God." It reveals a knowl-
edge of the universe which modern astronomy has not
begun to approach. When a person grasps some of the
revelations of modern science, when he views the
skies with the mightiest of our modern telescopes,
when he sweeps the heavens with all the power that

The Muun in thk Eightekx-Dav Phase

Halley's Comet, as Seen in the Early Morning

Named from Halley, who first ascertained its return around

the sun in a period of about seventy-five years. It appeared

last in 1910.

AS THE MOON 129

modern science has placed at the command of the eye
and mind of man, what language can adequately ex-
press the feelings that enrapture him? Where alone
can man turn for words suitable to voice his emotions
when the sights of the skies thrill the imagination, stir
the conscience, and awaken the heart? Only the lan-
guage of inspiration can cover all the range of the
feelings; only the words of Scripture can flux the
thoughts, and make them flow unimpeded, absolutely
free, through the great channels of the soul.

It is at such times that one turns with gladness, with
rapture, to quote the words given by inspiration of
God. It is then that the devout astronomer exclaims,
"When I consider Thy heavens, the work of Thy
fingers, the moon and the stars, which Thou hast or-
dained; what is man, that Thou art mindful of him?
and the son of man, that Thou visitest him ?"

This is true because every word of God is pure, and
unlimited in the fullness of its meaning. When God's
Word speaks in facts of nature, it does not glimpse
just a few of the facts, as would be the case if depend-
ent upon a partial knowledge ; but the Spirit of God,
when it mentions the great things of God, has in full
view every fact of God's universe that is involved in
the statement, and it speaks in language large enough,
grand enough, that no future discoveries or ages of
study can possibly make it in any sense out of date.

Before men swept the heavens with gigantic tele-
scopes, the Spirit of God read everything in all the
vast ocean of the universe. Telescopes will never peer
beyond its unmeasured scrutiny. Eye of man will

130 ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE

never behold anything not comprehended by its un-
limited knowledge. The mind of man will never grasp
anything but that which the Spirit of God has already
searched out and given for the benefit of man in its
inspired lessons.

Sometimes the intellect divorced from faith views
these stupendous spectacles in the heavens to point the
soul only to despair; but not so the Word. Agnosti-
cism and philosophical speculations and scientific soph-
istry would read but a portion of this scripture. It
would change it to something like this : "When I con-
sider the heavens, the incomprehensible work of the
universe, the moon and stars in their vastness, what
is man?" The whole import of the question is then
to overwhelm man with his insignificance, and make
him feel that he is merely a bubble of foam on the
great tossing waves of immensity. As Daniel Webster
once said, "Philosophical objections have sometimes
shaken my mind with regard to Christianity, especially
the objection drawn from the magnitude of the uni-
verse contrasted with the littleness of this planet."
And the argument becomes more striking, the feelings
are affected more intensely, when we contrast all this
might not merely with the planet, but with each one
of us as a puny individual ; but faith arises and faces
the difficulty.

The quotation from Daniel Webster is not complete.
He continued, "But my heart has always assured me
and reassured me that the gospel of Jesus Christ is a
divine reality." And he began his statement with the
words, "Lord, I believe; help Thou mine unbelief."

AS THE MOON 131

These words he left to be inscribed on his sepulcher,
and they are chiseled in the marble that rests over his
dust at Marshfield. Worthy faith !

The Scriptures would call our attention to the great-
ness of God's universe, and therefore to the might of
the God of the universe, but not to discourage or to
awaken distrust. The scripture reads: "When I con-
sider Thy heavens, the work of Thy fingers, the moon
and the stars, which Thou hast ordained ; what is man,
that Thou art mindful of him? and the son of man,
that Thou visit est him? For Thou hast made him a
little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with
glory and honor."

This was true of man when created ; and though by
sin he has lost it for himself, through Christ it is still
true for men. In Christ, God still makes him a little
lower than the angels ; and in Christ, God still clothes
him with glory and honor. And this is the great result
of a proper study of astronomy. When rightly we
consider the heavens, the work of God's fingers, the
moon and the stars, which He has ordained, it does
not arouse any distrust; it merely causes us to realize
the love of God, that He should remember anything
so small as a human being. It magnifies the love of
God, but does not throw any discredit upon Him. It
wonders at the condescension of God as it says, "What
is man," that God should do this ? It cries out in faith,
"Behold, what manner of love the Father hath be-
stowed upon us."

What the stars alone, what the moon itself, could
not tell, the gospel of the Son of God does tell. And

132

ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE

if we have been awed by the might of God displayed
in His vast universe, we are awed by the depth of His
love displayed in the blessed gospel of His Son ; for we
know that He who is so great that He has stretched
out the universe as you and I would pitch a tent,
nevertheless "so loved the world, that He gave His
only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him
should not perish, but have everlasting life."

As we look at the skies, — at the stars in their ap-
pointed course, at all the celestial bodies keeping their
mighty orbits, the spheres rotating in the vast deeps of
the creation, — we cannot dispute the might of God;
and when we view the cross of Christ, the wonderful
condescension of the Father in giving His Son, we
cannot dispute the immeasurable love of God.

CHAPTER XIII

Stars Innumerable

AGES ago the Word declared the stars of the
heavens to be innumerable. Years have come
and gone; man's knowledge of the skies has
been augmented; research through times and seasons
has added its stores of facts to the science of astron-
omy. To-day we say still, the stars are innumerable.

In Abraham's day, even as now and always, the eye
could count all the stars seen in the skies. If it were
a mere human task God called Abraham to undertake,
he could soon accomplish it. It would not be difficult
to count all the stars visible even in his fine climate.
With a little skill and perseverance, he could soon know
the number in sight.

But it was the Creator of the universe who called
Abraham forth, and thus he saw by the more than
telescope of God's enabling. He could look deeper
than any others of the sky gazers of his time. He
could fathom the universe spread out to his sight. To
Christ were shown the kingdoms of the world and the
glory of them, even by the ability of a fallen angel.

133

134 ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE

John saw beyond the crash of earthly empires to the
kingdom of God. And Abraham saw to the deeps of
the material universe.

It is therefore clear enough that if Abraham could
have counted all the stars to which God called his at-
tention, and they were but what one would ordinarily
see, say about fifteen hundred, then this whole passage
in Genesis from the life record of Abraham is a piece
of nonsense, and presents a stupendous farce. God
speaks as though the task were impossible: "Tell the
stars, if thou be able to number them." If Abraham
had found himself able to number them, we are quite
sure that he would have obeyed God, and told the
number of the stars. But Abraham was silent, awed
by the sight. The task was beyond him.

According to the modern skeptic, who views it only
from the merely human standpoint, it was an easy
task; "there were but fifteen hundred." Think of the
all-wise Creator of the universe calling Abraham out
to look at fifteen hundred stars, and saying, "Tell the
stars, if thou be able to number them."

But as Abraham beheld the countless shining orbs
of heaven, now first made visible to him as seen from
the Creator's viewpoint, God broke upon the awful
silence with the revelation of another great fact : "So
shall thy seed be." If Abraham saw the stars as they
really were, what an overwhelming fact it was: "So
shall thy seed be." Surely it must draw upon the faith
of even Abraham ; but we read that Abraham "believed
in the Lord; and He [God] counted it to him for
righteousness." But as the modern critic would have

STARS INNUMERABLE 135

it, all this was done to reveal to Abraham that he was
to have fifteen hundred descendants! There were
wandering nomads in those days with a larger pos-
terity than that. Thus does the too wise man charge
God and His Word with folly. Here is an occasion
where we may well say, "Let God be true, but every
man [who disputes Him] a liar."

God did not say that there is no number to the stars
of heaven; but He appeals to man's inability to count
them. God "telleth the number of the stars." Yes,
He even "calleth them all by their names." Ps. 147:
4; Isa. 40:26. Likewise God did not say that Israel
should be of the precise number of the stars or the
number of the dust of the earth. True, He said, 'T
will make thy seed as the dust of the earth." But in
what respect were they to be made as the dust of the
earth? — ''So that if a man can number the dust of the
earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered." Abra-
ham's seed were not to be of the precise number of the
dust of the earth, but "as the dust of the earth," and
"as the sand of the seashore," for the reason that they
would be beyond human computation. So God said
concerning the stars : "Look now toward heaven, and
tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: , . . so
[beyond human computation] shall thy seed be."
Surely God meant what He said, and Abraham did
well to believe; for John caught a view of that same
company, "a great multitude, which no man could
number/' Rev. 7 : 9.

In this text of Genesis just as it reads, with no
allowance or modification, we find revealed a truth of

136 ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE

astronomy which is far beyond human ideas or human
conception, and that modern astronomy itself is only
beginning to appreciate. I believe God has held that
truth before man ever since man took his place upon
this earth; and nearly four thousand years ago He
gave it to Abraham and his seed, coupled with the
great truth of those who should be saved.

*'Of the number and economy of the stars which
compose this group [the Milky Way], we have very
little exact knowledge. Herschel informs us that,
with his best glasses, he saw and counted five hundred
and eighty-eight stars in a single spot, without moving
his telescope; and as the gradual motion of the earth
carried these out of view, and introduced others suc-
cessively in their places, while he kept his telescope
steadily fixed to one point, there passed over his field
of vision one hundred and sixteen thousand stars; and
at another time, in forty-one minutes, no less than two
hundred and fifty-eight thousand. At other observa-
tions, when examining a section of the Milky Way,
apparently not more than one yard in breadth and
six in length, he discovered fifty thousand stars large
enough to be distinctly counted; and he suspected
twice as many more, which, for want of sufficient light
in his telescope, he saw only now and then." — ''Geog-
raphy of the Heavens" page 142.

Let us in imagination visit some large observatory.

"We enter the building, lantern in hand, and rolling
open a large segment of the dome, stand beside the
telescope under the starry sky. Looking up at the
glorious spectacle of the midnight heavens, we recall

STARS INNUMERABLE 137

the fact that from two thousand to two thousand five
hundred stars are visible in the northern hemisphere
to the naked eye. . . .

"But the stars which are thus visible form only a
small part of those whose existence is known to us.
On that table there lies a binocular glass. Take it up
and look at any part of the heavens through it, and
see what a multitude of stars, it brings into view utterly
invisible to the naked eye ! The binocular forms an
admirable and inexpensive instrument for elementary
astronomical research, especially when used with maps
of the starry heavens. Proctor's star atlas is one of
the simplest and best for this purpose, showing, with-
out crowding, all the stars in the British Association
catalogue down to the sixth magnitude.

"As we turn over the twelve maps of this atlas, we
note the fact that they exhibit 2,487 and 3,466 stars
in the northern and southern hemispheres, 5,953 in all,
and that the British Association catalogue from which
they are taken, professes to include all the stars visible
to the naked eye.

"But now turning to a more extensive catalogue, we
take down a volume of 1,200 pages — Lalande's cata-
logue of stars — which gives the right ascension and
north polar distances of 47,390 stars, or nearly 48,000
stars; and as the heavens are divided by astronomers
into twenty- four parts, corresponding with the twenty-
four hours of the day and night, each of the hour sec-
tions would contain on an average 2,000 of these stars,
or about as many as are ordinarily seen in the entire
hemisphere by the naked eye. But what are even

138 ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE

48,000 stars compared with the number which can be
seen with a small telescope of three inches aperture?
Look at the stars on this chart of the northern hemis-
phere representing those seen by Argelander and his
assistants during their persevering survey of the north-
em heavens with a 2^-inch telescope. There are no
less than 324,198 stars marked on that chart! They
lie almost as crowded together as the sands upon the
seashore ; and in parts, especially along the Milky Way,
the crowding is frequently so great as to make it im-
possible to distinguish star from star! That chart is
a photograph made by Proctor from Argelander's
maps. Turning the light of the lantern full upon it,
you may observe that some hand has written with pen
and ink below its marvelous picture of the star-filled
hemisphere the sublime yet simple and touching words
of Jesus Christ, *In My Father's house are many
mansions.'

"But now let us use the larger instrument to scan
some of the wonders of the heavens. Let us direct
it first to the constellation Perseus; and as we have
to find a particular spot in the constellation, we set the
equatorial telescope by means of its hour circle to 2 hr.
II m. right ascension, and elevate it to 56 38 north
declination, and having rotated it so that the hour
on the meridian corresponds with that shown at the
moment by the sidereal clock, we mount the steps of
the ladder and look through the instrument. A bril-
liant mass of stars, apparently countless in number,
now fills the field of view! That is the magnificent
cluster of stars in the sword handle of Perseus. After

STARS INNUMERABLE 139

gazing for a time at this sublime celestial spectacle, on
slightly moving the direction of the instrument, a
second glorious cluster comes into view, also of stars
from the seventh to the fifteenth magnitudes; and all
these stars are, as separate objects, invisible to the
naked eye.

"We might spend the whole night in thus examining
star clusters, and would only then have begun their
survey. But let us glance for a moment at one of the
many clusters remarkable for spherical form and com-
pactness. Directing the telescope to i6 hr. 37 m. right
ascension and 36 39 north declination, a wondrous ball
of stars blazes up in the center of the field of view.
That mighty system is known to astronomers by the
modest name of 13 M. Herculis, indicating that it is
the thirteenth in Messier's catalogue of nebulae, and
is situated in the constellation Hercules. It was dis-
covered by Halley in 1714, and examined by Messier
with a four-foot Newtonian instrument fifty years
later, who was able to resolve it into separate stars.
With this large equatorial it is perfectly resolved even
with low power eyepiece, while with the eyepieces of
higher power it seems to blaze and break into separate
stars and star branches streaming out from a dense
core of glittering light points. Language utterly fails
to adequately describe such an object. It has been
truly said that none could behold it for the first time
without uttering a *shout of wonder.' And yet that
system of worlds is only one among thousands, and
has not even a name assigned to it, being only known
among astronomers by its number, 13 M. Herculis I

140 ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE

"And now, changing again the direction of the
telescope, we bring it to bear on the Milky Way, that
faint, mysterious river of light, which streams all
across the midnight sky. Pointing the telescope to
the edge of the Milky Way, and moving it slowly
across its breadth, and then in the direction of its
length, we see that it really consists of miUions of
minute stars closely crowded together, along with
larger stars and star clusters. And the Milky Way
thus traversing the sky goes completely round the
world, crossing the southern hemisphere, and return-
ing again to the northern, in a vast ring-like form,
made up of closely compacted stars and star clusters
all the way.

"We have spoken of star catalogues and star maps
representing thousands of stars, but here are mil-
lions! It has been reckoned that the highest tele-
scopic power brings into view no less than fifty or
sixty millions of stars, and photography has of late
enormously increased the number known to exist by
revealing multitudes of stars too faint to be detected
even by the most powerful telescope." — "Creation Cen-
tered in Christ," pages 40^-412.

"Wider and wider fields are ever opening before
the human gaze. Vaster and vaster universe depths
are ever sought into. And still, boundless fields be-
yond, unfathomable depths below, reward the utmost
efforts of which man is capable. Many different com-
putations have been made from time to time, as to
the probable number of the stars, bright and dim,
which may lie within the grasp of the most powerful

STARS INNUMERABLE 141

telescope yet made. The sum of some sixty or seventy
million seems at present to be a moderate reckoning."

"There are stars in the sky so distant that the most
huge object glass ever constructed cannot catch enough
of their feeble glimmer to impress their image in the
human eye. No man has ever seen those stars from
this world ; perhaps no man, looking from this world,
will ever see a great many of them. And yet those
very stars are known to astronomers ; and the position
of many of them is marked on the celestial map. You
do not need to ask how this can be. You already know
that the weak shining, which cannot make itself felt
by the retina of a man's eye, can slowly impress its
image on the photographic plate. Hundreds of stars,
thousands of stars, utterly invisible to man, have had
their photographs taken as truly as you have had your
photograph taken, only it has been a longer business."

*Tf the stars which are known, and which can be
known, through photography alone, are added to the
list of those known through the telescope, the numbers
again rise fast. According to one supposition, the
total of one hundred miUion may be fairly given; ac-
cording to another, two hundred million may be well
within the mark. And even this vast mass may still
be, for aught that we know to the contrary, as a mere
corner of the universe." — ''Radiant Suns."

Magnificent glasses now scan the heavens. The
photographic plate nightly is turned to the sky to re-
ceive its silent record. But as night follows night, and
the record grows more complete, the witness grows
also more emphatic, and the declaration is forced from

142 ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE

the startled intelligence of man, The stars of the heav-
ens are mnumerable.

With the most gigantic telescopes, man cannot num-
ber all the stars. With the aid of the most exquisitely-
sensitive photographic plates, man cannot get the auto-
graph of all the orbs shining in the stellar depths. The
stars are to us innumerable.

God formed the heavens. He scattered the deeps
of space with the glories of uncounted suns, the won-
ders of attendant planets and satellites. They all par-
take of His infinity. The stars of heaven are beyond
the computation of man; the stars of God are to us
innumerable.

With this new view of the infinity of God's shining
orbs, we have a new realization of that truth which
declares that there shall be, like the stars, vast num-
bers of those who shall wash their robes and make them
white, — a great multitude no man can number. To
create the innumerable suns, God had but to speak the
word. The whole host of them obeyed "the breath
of His mouth." But to bring forth the host of the
saved, the Son of God left glory and eternal blessed-
ness to lead men from sin to the purity of God. And
we may be laborers together with Him in this work
in these the closing hours of time.

God grant that we may be of that uncounted host,
and that we may bring at least one other with us to
swell the untold number. And God grant that we may
see Him whose blood cleanses us white, and praise
with immortal tongues both Him and the great and
loving Father in the glory land beyond the stars.

CHAPTER XIV

The Fixed Stars

TO the unaided eye, the stars seem to hold the
same relative positions in the heavens from age.
to age. Orion and the Pleiades, Arcturus, and
the twelve signs of the zodiac, are mentioned in the
book of Job. If Abraham could once more look upon
the skies we behold, he would see the stars as he saw
them thousands of years ago, when God "brought
him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven,
and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them." To
the unassisted eye, not a single star seems to have
moved from its place.

This seeming fixity of place misled men for a time.
It was supposed that the stars had no proper motions
of their own. But in time, it was discovered that the
planets, including the earth, are in motion about the
sun ; the satellites were in motion about their planets ;
and the comets were ranging the mighty orbits through
the skies. Where there was so much motion, the ques-
tion arose, Are the stars fixed as they seem to be?
Have they no motion of their own^

143

144 ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE

"Before it became possible to examine with abso-
lute certainty the places of the stars, with a view to
ascertain their absolute fixity, many difficult prelimi-
nary preparations had to be accomplished. Instru-
ments of the most perfect kind must be provided, not
only in their optical performances, but in their space-
dividing machinery. Moreover, the places of the stars,
as determined by the best telescopes, must be corrected
for every possible instrumental error. The two points
to which the stars are referred are the north pole and
the vernal equinox. In case any motions belong to
these points, their amounts and directions must be
ascertained and allowed for. Then the effects of re-
fraction, and of the aberration of light, were indis-
pensable to a perfect investigation of the absolute places
of the stars.

"All these and many other preliminary matters hav-
ing been satisfactorily determined, it became possible
to examine, in the most critical manner, the places of
the stars, and to learn whether indeed (as had been
supposed for thousands of years) their configurations
were eternal and unchangeable, or whether they moved
among themselves with a motion rendered so slow by
their immense distance, as hitherto to have escaped the
most scrutinizing watch.

"Fully armed with the necessary instruments, it did
not require many years to determine the grand truth,
that among the ten thousands of stars which fill the
heaven, not a solitary one, in all probability, is in a
state of absolute rest. Many were found to move so
swiftly that their velocity was determined in a single

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Region of the Great Nebula of Rho Ophiuchi
''Upon a cloudless, moonless night, we look above us."

THE FIXED STARS 145

year; while others, in consequence of their enormous
distance, may require centuries to detect any appre-
ciable change. In the outset, these extraordinary move-
ments seemed to be directed by no law — some stars
were sweeping in one direction, and some in another.

"Motion, ceaseless, eternal motion, seems to be
stamped on the entire universe; and while the stars
are pursuing their mighty orbits, we cannot resist
the idea that our own sun, the center of our great
planetary system, itself a star, must participate in the
general movement, and is, in all probability, urging its
flight, accompanied by all its planets, satellites, and
comets, to some unknown region of space.

"When forced to acknowledge the rotation of our
globe on its axis, and its swift orbital motion, sur-
rounded by wheeling planets and flying comets, the
mind naturally retreats to the sun as the great immov-
able center, where it can rest and contemplate these
circling worlds. But even here there is no rest. The
sun himself is a subordinate member of a grander
combination of worlds, and, obedient to higher in-
fluence, sweeps around in its immeasurable orbit.

"Herschel succeeded, at least approximately, in
sounding the profundities of the Milky Way, and fixed
the relative position of our own sun among the stars
by which it is surrounded. He found it to be located
not very far distant from the center of the great stra-
tum, and near the line where the principal current of
stars divides into two great streams which for a time
separate from each other, but finally reunite in a dis-
tant region of the heavens.

10

146 ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE

"Having accomplished this much, this great astrono-
mer attempted the resolution of the grand problem of
the sun's movement through space. This investigation
is so lofty, so daring and utterly incomprehensible at
the first glance, that its mere announcement produces
little effect on the mind. Consider for one moment
what it involves. Man is located on a planet almost
infinitely larger than himself. This planet is swiftly
revolving on its axis, and in its orbit round a great
central luminary, the sun. The daring philosopher
participates in all these motions. He provides himself
with instruments which measure the distances and
positions of the almost infinitely distant fixed stars.
These fixed stars, when subjected to his critical ex-
amination, cease to be fixed, and are found to be mov-
ing with astonishing velocity in all directions. Among
these he numbers his own sun; and although borne
along in the progressive motion of his own great cen-
ter, he ventures to attempt the determination of the
fact of its actual motion, the direction in which it
moves, and the velocity with which it is sweeping
through space.

"After as extended an examination as the data with
which he was then furnished permitted, Herschel an-
nounced his belief that the solar system was moving
through space toward a point in the constellation of
Hercules.

"The announcement of this astonishing result was
received with hesitation and doubt by the best living
astronomer, and Herschel died before any confirmation
of his great theory had been obtained. After his death,

THE FIXED STARS 147

for nearly half a century, no mind seemed willing to
renew the investigation. The theory fell into disre-
pute, and was only regarded as a bold and sublime
speculation, but not founded on any well determined
observations."

During the present century, the problem has en-
gaged the attention of some of the distinguished as-
tronomers of Russia. "Argelander, of Bonn, led the
way, and by a train of reasoning based upon extensive
and accurate observations, has sustained and demon-
strated, in the most undeniable manner, not only the
general truth of Herschel's theory, but has even con-
firmed the direction in which that astronomer believed
the solar system to be moving."

The final result of Argelander's work settled proba-
bly forever the grand fact that the sun, with its entire
cometary and planetary system, is sweeping through
space toward a point whose place must fall somewhere
within the circumference of a circle whose diameter is
about equal to four times that of the moon.

'The reality of the solar motion once determined,
astronomers have not been wanting to verify and ex-
tend this wonderful examination. Argelander's results
have been confirmed by the investigations of M. Otho
Struve, the son of the distinguished director of the
Imperial Observatory of Pulkovo; and if, on any
fair night, you direct your eye to the constellation of
Hercules, and select from its stars the two marked on
the globe with the Greek letters ir and />t, on the line
joining these stars, and at a distance from ir equal to
one quarter of the distance which divides the stars,

148 ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE

will be found the point toward which the sun was di-
recting his course in the year 1840." — "Planetary and
Stellar Worlds/' Mitchel.

"About twenty different determinations of the point
in the sky toward which this motion of the sun is
directed have been worked out by various astronomers,
using in their discussions the angular proper motion
of from twenty to twenty-five hundred stars. All the
investigations present a reasonable accordance of re-
sults, differing from each other only by a few degrees,
and show that the sun is nozv moving toward a point
in the constellation of Hercules, having a right ascen-
sion of about 267° and a declination of about ji°.
This point is known as the 'apex of the sun's way! " —
Young's "Astronomy."

Having found the direction of the solar motion, the
next question was its actual velocity. It will hardly
be wise to attempt an explanation here of the method
by which this result was sought. But this much has
been determined : The velocity of the sun in its course
through the heavens has been found to be such as
would carry the sun and its system about 5" in 100
years, as seen from the average sixth magnitude star
(the sixth magnitude being the smallest easily visible
to the naked eye). If we knew the distance of this
average sixth star, we could translate the motion of
the sun into miles. But we can only estimate with
some degree of accuracy the distance of the average
sixth magnitude stars. Qn the reasonable assumption
of Ludwig Struve, that this distance is about 20,000,-
000 times the astronomical unit, the velocity of the

THE FIXED STARS 149

sun's motion through space is nearly sixteen miles a
second.

"And now do you demand how much reliance is to
be placed on this bewildering announcement? I an-
swer that as to the reality of the solar motion, there
is not one chance out of four hundred thousand that
astronomers have been deceived. We cannot resist
the evidence; and startling as the truth appears, we
are obliged to yield our assent, reluctant though it
may be, to the logical reasoning by which this mag-
nificent result has been demonstrated.

"But whither is our system tending? If moving
onward with such tremendous velocity, is there not
danger that erelong it may reach the region of the
fixed stars, and by sweeping near the other suns and
systems, derange the order of the planetary worlds?
Let us examine this question for one moment, on the
hypothesis that the sun alone is moving among all the
stars of heaven, and that it will hold on in its present
direction until it shall reach the star in Hercules toward
which it is now urging its flight. This star is one of
the third magnitude; and according to our statement
already made, the mean distance of its class is such
that its light does not reach us in a period less than
forty-six years. Executing the calculation, we find
that in case the solar system should continue to pro-
gress toward the star, it cannot pass the enormous in-
terval, even at 33>550>ooo miles per annum, in less than
1,800,000 years!

"If the eye of any superior intelligence can behold
this amazing scene, how stupendous must be the spec-

150 ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE

tacle presented! In the center the sun, blazing with
splendor, pursues its majestic career; around it roll the
planets, and about it cluster ten thousand fiery comets.
Worlds bright and beautiful hover near the sun;
worlds fiery and chaotic seek this great center with
impetuous velocity, and then dash away into the farth-
est range of their grand revolution. But the monarch
moves on, and his magnificent cortege, performing

Motion of Arcturus

I. Arcturus in the days of Abraham. 2. Arcturus
as it appears now. Although it is moving over
two hundred miles a second, star distances are so
vast, and this star is so far from us, it seems
hardly to have moved at all during these thou-
sands of years.

THE FIXED STARS . 151

his high behests, follow whithersoever he leads through
space !"

"Look out to-night on the brilliant constellations
which crowd the heavens. Mark the configurations
of these stars. Five thousand years ago the Chaldean
shepherd gazed on the same bright groups. Two thou-
sand years have rolled away since the Greek philoso-
pher pronounced the eternity of the heavens, and
pointed to the ever-during configuration of the stars
as proof positive of his assertion. But a time will
come when not a constellation now blazing in the
bright conclave above us shall remain. Slowly, in-
deed, do these figures on the dial of heaven mark the
progress of time. A thousand years may roll away
with scarce a perceptible change ; even a million years
may pass without effacing all traces of the groupings
which now exist; but that eye which shall behold the
universe of the fixed stars when ten millions of years
shall have silently rolled away, will search in vain for
the constellations which now beautify and adorn our
nocturnal heavens. Should God permit, the stars may
be there, but no trace of their former relative positions
will be found."

"Go backward in imagination to the plains of Shinar,
and stand beside the shepherd astronomer as he vainly
attempts to grasp the mysteries of the waxing and
waning moon, and then enter the sacred precincts of
yonder temple devoted to the science of the stars.
Look over its magnificent machinery; examine its
space-annihilating instruments, and ask the sentinel
who now keeps his unbroken vigil, the nature of his

152 ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE

investigations. Moon, and planet, and sun, and sys-
tem, are left behind. His researches are now within
a sphere to whose confines the eagle glance of the
Chaldean never reached. Periods, and distances, and
masses, and motions, are all familiar to him. But
where does the human mind now stand ? Great as are
its achievements, profoundly as it has penetrated the
mysteries of creation, what has been done is but an
infinitesimal portion of what remains to be done." —
"Planetary and Stellar Worlds," Mitchel.

Over twenty-five hundred years before Herschel dis-
covered the motion of the sun, God placed on record
the astounding fact: "In them [the heavens] hath He
set a dwelling place for the sun, which is as a bride-
groom coming out of his chamber, and rejoiceth as a
strong man to run a course. His going forth is from
the extremity of the heavens, and his coming about
unto the termination of it." Ps. 19:4-6, literal trans-
lation.

This passage has given edge to many a sneer, be-
cause it was supposed to teach that the sun moves
around the earth. But the Bible asserts that the earth
moves around the sun. This scripture teaches the
higher truth that the sun itself obeys the law enforced
upon the planets, and flies in an orbit of its own, from
one end of heaven in Argo to the other in Hercules.
Only one hundred years ago did astronomers discover
this great fact. The sun had no motion, and the Bible
was an ignorant old book. But after herculean labors,
astronomers find that the old Book was right, and that
their science was behind. The sun does move.

THE FIXED STARS 153

And some men saw occasion for stumbling in the
use of the word "tabernacle." "In them hath He set
a tabernacle for the sun." They thought of a taber-
nacle as a tent, and that the idea of the verse was to
suggest a closed place in which the sun resided as in
a tent. This tent, of course, was the dome of the sky.
They said there is no crystal dome above us, as thought
the ancients. In this passage we have evidence, said
they, that the ignorance of men wrote what now we
know is not the truth. But it is loose reasoning indeed
that can gather this from the text.

The word translated "tabernacle" came from a root
word meaning to shine. Tents white and shining in
the sunlight were thought of in connection with this
word ; and a new word, "tabernacle," was thus derived
from the root word "shine." Therefore the root idea
of the word "tabernacle" is not essentially a tent, or
covering, but rather a thing that is conspicuous from
a distance. As a tent was conspicuous, it was desig-
nated by a word derived from the word "shine." But
there were other words in Hebrew which meant a
tent, or tabernacle; and if this was the essential idea
in the mind of inspiration, it is strange that such a
word was not employed. But the word that is here
used has a pecuHar fitness. Our science only helps us
to get the full significance of the term which inspira-
tion saw fit to employ. Follow this carefully: At
one time, there was not this word "tabernacle" in the
Hebrew, but there was a word meaning to shine. In
Bible lands, the dwelling places were to a large extent
tabernacles, or tents. As men saw their tents from a

154 ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE

distance shining in the sunlight, they began to call
them ''shines." A new word was thus added to the
language. But in time, men forgot, perhaps, the old
idea in the verse, and thought of the word as mean-
ing merely a dwelling place. Yet the idea of a cover-
ing, or covered place, was not an essential part of the
word.

Now, do you see the appropriateness of this word?
In the heavens "hath He set a tabernacle." The heav-
ens are not in the tabernacle, but the tabernacle is set
in the heavens. But in the heavens has He set a dwell-
ing place; a shining dwelling place; a dwelling place
conspicuous from a distance, as the white tents on the
plain; a dwelling place for the sun. In other words,
the Creator has ordained that the sun shall dwell in the
heavens, and the shining of its fiery ball makes its
dwelling place conspicuous from a distance. If the
tabernacle was first so called from the fact that it was
conspicuous from a distance, shining in the light of the
sun, shall not the abiding place of the sun itself be so
called? It shines; it is conspicuous; ten thousand
worlds look forth to see its shining place in the heav-
ens. "In them hath He set a tabernacle for the sun."

But the sun is only one of the stars. If the sun is
in motion, are not the stars also in motion ? They are
in motion. It has been but a few years since astrono-
mers knew this definitely, but it has stood on record
in the Bible for hundreds of years.

"Lift up your eyes on high, and see who hath
created these, that bringeth out their host by number."
Isa. 40 : 26, A. R. V. What is this but an assertion that

THE FIXED STARS 155

all the hosts of the heaven are in motion ? And it says
more than simply that they are in motion ; "that bring-
eth out their host hy number." They all move; but
more, they move by number; it is a mathematical af-
fair. And how fully has astronomy demonstrated
the truth of this ! Men used all the mathematical
knowledge in their possession in attempting to follow
and trace the paths of the heavenly bodies; and in
more than one instance, they were compelled to invent
new branches of mathematics, to conceive new meth-
ods of calculation. Thus were born analytical geome-
try and calculus.

In order for us to understand this one expression,
"bringeth out their host by number," we must know
something of the mighty work of Kepler, and of the
three laws of motion which he discovered ; of Newton,
and of the laws of gravitation which he taught the
world. In fact, we have before us, in these words in
the Scriptures, all of mathematical astronomy.

But men had no more than discovered the move-
ments of the heavenly bodies, than seeming irregulari-
ties and perturbations began to create doubts as to the
stability of the universe. For a number of years, men
thought that the universe had been so badly con-
structed, and was such a rickety concern, that it could
not hold together long enough to get fairly started.

Again they showed how little faith they had in that
Word which declares, "For that He is strong in power ;
not one faileth," or as the German has it, "His ability
and strong power are so great that not one of them can
be wanting." Isa. 40 : 26. There were seeming irregu-

156 ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE

larities in the movements of the heavenly bodies.
There were perturbations and oscillations, accelera-
tions and retardations. A top oscillates to indicate
that it is about to fall. The earth was found to os-
cillate. The sun was found to do the same. Were
they stumbling in their orbits? Were they about to
fall and go to ruin? The Word said that not one of
them can fall; but infidels and scoffers began to pre-
dict a final clash as the wind-up of things terrestrial
and celestial, nor were they slow in insisting that the
Bible was evidently but the work of man, since it
teaches something so different. And the churchmen
seized upon the idea to show the final wreck at the
end of the world.

But it was left to an infidel to prove the truth of the
Word through Isaiah. Laplace was a man gifted with
extraordinary mathematical ability. He showed, by
mathematical calculations and demonstrations, that
every acceleration is compensated, after thousands or
millions of years, by a corresponding retardation, and
vice versa. He announced, as the result of his re-
searches, that, so far as he could see, and so far as
indications were concerned, the universe might exist
forever.

We have already spoken of the endurance of the
heavenly bodies, according to the declaration of the
Word. Inspiration declares that because God's "abil-
ity and strong power are so great," not one shall fail.
We believe it. And we are glad that science has ad-
vanced far enough to confirm this truth. But if it had
not, what would your position and mine be to-day?

THE FIXED STARS 157

Would we, if we were living back before the days of
Laplace, hold to the statement of that Word, or would
we follow the crowd of worldly-wise men ? There is a
certain answer to the question : If you are now making
that Book your science, if now you believe it in prefer-
ence to all science and all the wisdom of the world,
we may be reasonably certain that you would have
believed the words of Isaiah then.

But the idea that the universe of God is yet to meet
with ruin or partial wreck, is still taught. Men teach
that some day the sun will grow cold and die, and the
planets will whirl on in lifeless gloom. But the Word
says that "His ability and strong power are so great"
that not one of them can be wanting. And against
the picture which scientists present — a picture of
darkness and death — the Word places its prophecy of
a brighter sun and a better world.

Manifestly there is to be a ruin, but it is the ruin of
sin. There is to be an end to this world, not as a
planet rolling in space, but as the resting and brood-
ing place of sin. And then, beautified and made new,
it will roll on, wrapped in brighter glory than in these
days of misery and evil. Let nothing touch your faith
in that Word. If it goes from your heart, you lose
the truest guide man ever had.

But the sun is whirling on through space. Astrono-
mers have known this a trifle over one hundred years ;
but the Word has affirmed the same truth for almost
three thousand years.

The stars are not fixed, as was long supposed, but
are traveling each his destined way, some with a ve-

158 ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE

locity of two hundred miles a second. Astronomers
have not long known the stupendous fact; but ages
ago the Word declared them to be brought out by
number. Thus in one passage in the Word, we are
told more astronomical facts than we can demonstrate
by the combined labors of the mightiest intellects dur-
ing many generations.

I have no desire to belittle science. It is indispen-
sable. It has a noble work. It "opens to the mind
vast fields of thought and information." Science has
its own peculiar province. It has a work to perform
after its own peculiar methods to its own special ends.
The Word of God was never meant to supplant it, nor
to interfere with it. But it was meant to be an aid;
and by suggestions and plain declarations, it is an all-
efficient aid. Without it, we are left, wholly to our
own speculations and our own blind guesses ; by it, we
are led to take the right way and to move ever on in
the investigation of truth.

God is as much the Author of science as He is the
Author of the Bible. True, men hate His way, and
long to disprove His statements ; but their investiga-
tions always show that God is true. Let us not add to
His words, lest He reprove us, and we be found liars.
(Prov. 30:6.) He has certainly reproved men in this
matter of the motion of the stars. It is always un-
safe to dispute His Word. Let us rather believe it,
for it will vitalize our science, and save our souls.

CHAPTER XV

The Bands of Orion

'^ y^^ANST thou bind the sweet influences of Ple-
B iades, or loose the bands of Orion?" Job

^^^ 38:31. Some have sought to explain this
expression from the Bible by the fact that the Pleiades
are seen in the evening in the spring, and that this has
some reference to the old idea that the Pleiades ush-
ered in the sweet influences of the spring. To the
student of the Bible, who understands how free from
all such inferences the Bible is, such explanation is far
from satisfactory. This very freedom from the child-
ish notions of heathenism, is the best evidence that the
Bible was inspired by a knowledge greater than that
of the men of its times.

In this scripture, the difficulties resolve themselves
into the one principle : If we know positively the mean-
ing of the original word from which "sweet influences"
is translated, it is possible to understand clearly the
whole scripture. Looking up this word carefully in
the Hebrew, we find it to be maadannoth, which means,
"a bond; that is, a group."

159

160 ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE

From this, it is evident that the translators were not
willing to take the first and most obvious meaning of
the word. The scripture was too far ahead of the
science of astronomy for the translators to grasp the
high meaning of the original, and so it was translated
in accordance with the prevailing notions of the times.
But under the light of advancing science, man's
knowledge of the stars has increased. The American
Revised Version gives the language very clearly. It
reads as follows : "Canst thou bind the cluster of the
Pleiades, or loose the bands of Orion?" A marginal
translation is suggested that would make it read,
"Canst thou bind the chain of the Pleiades?"

Reading the scripture as thus given in the American
Revised Version, one sees that it assumes the knowl-
edge that the Pleiades and Orion are each a group, a
family of stars, bound together. The Pleiades is a
cluster. It is bound together as with an invisible band.
Likewise the power that holds the great constellation
of Orion into a great family of united stars is spoken
of as its "bands."

At once the mind of the student of the Word rests
in the assurance that science will find something here
to verify this scripture. He is so certain of the in-
fallibility of the Bible, that he does not question for
a moment the truth of this language, but looks with
confidence to science for its verification. If science has
not advanced far enough to do this work, he waits
for the facts to be developed that will elucidate and
confirm the Word, though they may not come in his
time.

Brooks's Comet, as Seen Just Before Dawn

This is but one of the impressive sights frequently spread in

the heavens to delight the eyes of earth's dwellers.

The Constellation Pleiades, Showing Nebulosity
The nebula in the Pleiades was first revealed by photographs.
It enmeshes the great stars of this cluster, and indicates that
these belong together in one family. Modern astronomy's
testimony is that, as the Bible says, there is a "sweet influence"
which "binds" them into one group.

THE BANDS OF ORION 161

Now it has been scarcely a generation since men
learned that the Pleiades and Orion were each a group
of stars traveling through the depths of space, held,
as it were, by some mighty chain. We will give some
of the statements of prominent astronomers which will
verify this text from the Word of God. We first give
a quotation from "Other Worlds than Ours," pub-
lished by Richard A. Proctor, astronomer and author,
as early as 1870. He says:

"Among other instances may be cited the nebula
round the stars ci and C2 in Orion. In this object two
remarkable nebulous nodules centrally surround two
double stars. Admitting the association here to be
real (and no other explanation can be reasonably ad-
mitted), we are led to interesting conclusions respect-
ing the whole of that wonderful nebulous region which
surrounds the sword of Orion. We become certain
that the other nebulae in that region are really asso-
ciated with the fixed stars there ; that it is not a mere
coincidence, for instance, that the middle star in the
belt of Orion is involved in nebula, or that the lowest
star of the sword is similarly circumstanced. It is a
legitimate inference, from the evidence, that all the
nebulae in this region belong to one great nebulous
group, which extends its branches to these stars. As
a mighty band this nebulous region seems to gather
the stars here into close association, showing us, in a
way there is no misinterpreting, that these stars and
the nebula form one system."

The astronomer, judging only by appearances re-
vealed to the eye, concluded that these stars made up

11

162 ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE

a community; but since that time, much more refined
observations have been possible. By means of the
spectroscope, astronomers are able to learn the very
material of which the stars are composed; and here
is what a fairly recent astronomer has to say concern-
ing the revelations of the spectroscope with reference
to Orion :

"The stars in Orion (with the notable exception of
Betelgeuse) have a special variety of spectrum scarcely
found outside of that constellation. This indicates
that these stars have a similar structure ; probably they
are 'chips off the same block.' " — Howe's ''Descriptive
Astronomy,'' page ^J/.

This statement of the astronomer, we see at once,
is more definite and convincing than the former one,
and shows that as science has advanced, astronomy has
been able more and more clearly to confirm the fact
revealed in the Bible more than three thousand years
ago. It is a long time to wait for confirmation, but it
is one of the strongest conceivable evidences of the
reliabiHty of the Word of God. Many texts in the
Bible were given to be understood in the closing age —
"they are written for our admonition, upon whom the
ends of the world are come." i Cor. lo: ii.

Another writer presents even more clearly and con-
clusively this wonderful truth of the bonds of affinity
which exist between the stars in the constellation of
Orion :

"We sometimes think that those groups of stars
to which from all antiquity certain names have been
assigned have bonds of affinity, and that their proxim-

THE BANDS OF ORION 163

ity on the heavens is not to be attributed to a mere
casual arrangement, but is to be taken as indicating a
community of origin. In some cases there can be no
doubt that this is so. In the great group of Orion, for
instance, to which I have already referred, modern
researches demonstrate that the several stars of that
grand constellation possess a structure which may be
described as peculiar to themselves, inasmuch as a
similar structure has only been observed in one other
star in the sky except those of Orion. In this case
we have the evidence not only of juxtaposition in the
heavens, but also of an allied material composition.
Under these circumstances it seems almost impossible
to doubt that the glorious assemblage of stars forming
the constellation of Orion does really represent por-
tions of a mighty system. If any further corrobora-
tions of this view be required, it may be obtained from
recent discoveries with respect to the peerless nebula
by which Orion is most familiar to astronomers. The
beautiful photographs which have been obtained by
Mr. Roberts and by Mr. Common have tended to dis-
close ever widening boundaries to the great nebula
when sufficiently long exposure has been given. We
thus see that the glowing gas encroaches on the sur-
rounding space to an extent much wider than mere eye
observation would have indicated. Several of the
bright stars are already seen to be invested with what-
ever glory residence in the interior of a glowing nebula
may confer. Adding this circumstance to those we
have already mentioned of juxtaposition and of ma-
terial congruity, it seems impossible to doubt that

164

ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE

Orion, the finest constellation in the heavens, is not
a mere fortuitous concourse of stars, but is a system
possessing indications of a common origin." — ''In
Starry Realms/' by Sir Robert S, Ball, D. Sc, LL.D,,
F. R. S., pages 265, 266.

This presents clearly all that is needed for us to
understand the expression ''the bands of Orion." A
full commentary on the text will be given at the close
of this argument.

Now just a few words regarding the cluster of the
Pleiades. Are the stars in the Pleiades also yoked
together as a family? Over two hundred years ago
an observer argued for their connection in one com-
munity, and the more searching investigations of
science confirmed the fact.

'''^,

i

/

1
/

Diagram of the Pleiades

The arrows indicate a common motion for

the stars of the Pleiades, showing them to

constitute one family, or cluster.

THE BANDS OF ORION 165

"The grouping of even six stars visible to the naked
eye in so small a space is very remarkable. Consider-
ing the number of stars visible in the whole sky with-
out optical aid, Mitchell, writing in 1867, calculated
by the mathematical theory of probabilities that the
chances are 500,000 to i against the close arrangement
of the six stars in the Pleiades being merely the result
of accident. He therefore concluded that 'this distri-
bution was the result of design, or that there is reason
or cause for such an assemblage.' Modern observa-
tions show that his conclusion was sound. The com-
mon 'proper motion' of a large number of the stars
composing the Pleiades shows that they are in some
way physically connected." — ''Studies in Astronomy/'
by J. Ellard Gore, pages 6g, 70.

"Most of the brightest stars of the Pleiades are also
moving in one and the same direction, and this com-
munity of proper motion has received the name 'star
drift.' " — "A Nezv Astronomy" by David Todd, page
430.

Clearly as this statement presents the fact, the ar-
gument offered in the following quotation is perhaps
more convincing:

"In a similar way we are entitled to infer that many
other remarkable groups of stars give evidence of a
certain physical connection which corroborates the pre-
sumption obtained from the fact that the stars happen
to be close neighbors. I do not suppose that any one
ever could have doubted that so striking a group as
the Pleiades had some natural connection. But if there
were such doubts they must be dispelled when the

166 ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE

photographs of the Messrs. Henry and of Mr. Roberts
show the seven stars of the Pleiades to be immersed in
a single nebula, invisible to the eye, and perceptible
only to the delicacy of the photographic plate. In
other famous groups also there are indications of re-
lationship drawn from their common movements. If
seven fish were seen together in the sea there would
be a certain presumption that they formed a re-
lated group, and this presumption would be greatly
strengthened if it should appear that all the fish were
swimming in parallel directions. We can sometimes
apply a similar principle to the study of a constella-
tion. If seven bright stars lie comparatively near each
other in the sky, and if it be found that they partici-
pate in a common motion so far as direction is con-
cerned, we may not unnaturally conclude that these
stars belong to an organized system, and that they are
not merely a number of discrete objects scattered pro-
miscuously on the sky." — "In Starry Realms," by Sir
Robert S. Ball, D.Sc, LL.D., F.R.S., page 266.

Regarding this common motion. Young's "As-
tronomy" (page 459) says : "The brightest stars in
Pleiades are found in the same way to have a common
motion. In fact, it appears to be the rule rather than
the exception that stars apparently near each other are
really connected as comrades, traveling together in
groups of twos and threes, dozens, or hundreds. They
show, as Miss Gierke graphically expresses it, a dis-
tinctly ^gregarious tendency.' "

From the same book, page 501, we take this ex-
pression :

THE BANDS OF ORION 167

"Of the naked-eye clusters the Pleiades is the most
interesting and important. To an ordinary eye six
stars are easily visible in it. Eyes a little better see
easily five more. A very small telescope (a mere
opera glass) increases the number to nearly a hundred;
and with large instruments more than four hundred
are catalogued in the group. A few of the stars ap-
parently in the cluster are really only accidentally on
the same line of vision, and are distinguished by proper
motions different from those of the rest of the group ;
but the great majority have proper motions nearly the
same in amount and direction; they have also iden-
tical spectra, and therefore undoubtedly constitute a
single system."

Having thus seen how wonderfully modern facts
agree with this scripture, ages old, we have a strong
evidence that the scripture was really inspired by a
knowledge greater than that common to humanity at
the time it was written.

By this scripture, the mind of man is challenged.
Attention is called to two great families of stars mov-
ing majestically in the heavens. The constellation of
the Pleiades is pointed out, and the wonderful fact
that the stars making up this constellation — immense,
brilliant suns, every one of them — are bound by the
great band instituted by the Creator. We have at once
before us a most extraordinary work. All these suns,
some of them greater than our own, have been put
under an influence — a sweet influence, if you will —
that extends from o 2 to the other, and holds them
each in sympathy with the other. Moving through

168 ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE

space more swiftly than a fast-flying cannon ball, they
yet each feel the presence of their fellows; they obey
this instinct to keep together.

Then consider the tremendous work that produced
this wonder — the constant power that forever im-
presses these stars so that they fail not to obey. As
we contemplate this marvelous spectacle, God asks.
Could you do such a thing? "Canst thou bind into a
cluster, by a sweet influence, a chain, the Pleiades?"
Each one of us knows himself to be absolutely inade-
quate for such a gigantic task. Only God could do
it. Only God has done it. And He who thus upholds
this starry cluster, this vast portion of the universe,
will do as much for the great family of human beings
that are also moving, moving down the corridors of
time, and who should also be bound together by sweet
influences, by a chain that would make them helpful
to one another. In the church of Christ, we find as
great an association, or even a greater, where the bond
is so close that if one member suffers, the others suffer
with him. The God that made the seven stars and
Orion, cares for us.

"Canst thou . . . loose the bands of Orion" —
mighty stars whirling through space? The distances
between them are so great as to appall the mind; still
across that distance there is a great band of God's
own creation, invisible, yet indissoluble. Can you
loose it ? Can you break asunder the power that holds
these vast suns together? Can you dispel these stars
that through the ages are moving untiringly, held to-
gether by one common, unexplained sympathy?

THE BANDS OF ORION 169

No, man never could group such a community of
stars as the Pleiades; neither could he tear asunder
such a cluster as Orion. His puny arm could do
naught against even one of these rolling suns. No,
if all the strength of every arm of every person that
has ever lived upon this earth were assembled in the
might of one great arm, it could not even start this
little world of ours in its orbit path. Much less could
it attempt anything with the sun, which is capable of
engulfing thousands of earths like ours.

We trust in Him who has done such wonderful
things, knowing that "there is nothing too hard" for
Him.

CHAPTER XVI

Arcturus with His Sons

*iy^>|ANST thou guide Arcturus with his sons?"
1 Job 38 : 32. This quotation from the an-

^^^ cient book of Job is a marvelous one, and
the facts brought out by modern astronomy reveal its
import in a manner both striking and significant. In
this thirty-eighth chapter of the book of Job, God
challenges the might and wisdom of men as contrasted
with His own perfect power and unlimited wisdom.
He points to examples of His marvelous working in
the universe, and bids us think how little is all that we
can do as matched against the infinite accomplishments
of the Creator.

We should also learn another lesson from these
words of the ancient book. They were written at a
time when astronomical knowledge was extremely
meager. Let us consider some of the knowledge neces-
sary to use this language and conform it to facts.

One who wished to speak thus would have to know
first of all that the stars were in motion. This of
itself, at that time, would have been a startling gener-

170

ARCTURUS WITH HIS SONS 111

alization. From limited records we have of those
days, we see that there was no such idea then preva-
lent. The understanding of star distances and star
motions was entirely outside the ken of the ordinary
mortal. Therefore a person who would ask such a
question as the one we have quoted, must rise above
all the astronomical knowledge or ignorance of his
time, and declare that the stars were moving, and
further, were under guidance of the Creator of their
movement. Again, it would be necessary for him to
know that some of the stars were moving much more
swiftly than others; and further, he would have to
know at least one of these more swiftly moving bodies,
and be able to name it. This the Word does without
hesitation. It selects that brilliant star Arcturus. It
is the fourth or fifth brightest star in the heavens. Yet
the speaker selects this star, calls man's attention to the
fact that it is moving with extraordinary power in its
position in the heavens, guided by the infinite hand of
the Creator; and the question is asked, Could you do
a thing like that?

Furthermore, there was then no means by which
man could measure either star distances or star move-
ments. Such a work required the telescope, fitted
with a micrometer, and it required a knowledge of
mathematics not in vogue at that time. The Chaldeans,
who possessed the bulk of astronomical knowledge in
those days, could not survey land unless they actually
passed over it with the measuring rod or line. Our
present system of triangulation they did not have ; and
so we know that they did not have any such knowledge

172 ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE

as is manifested in the Word, and they had no means
of obtaining it, and what they did write about the stars
and the heavens was childish nonsense as compared
with this dignified reference to astronomical fact.

But the Spirit of God, which "searcheth all things,"
even "the deep things of God" (i Cor. 2: 10), knows
all the facts existing in this vast universe; and it se-
lected one of the grand facts of astronomy, and ex-
pressed it in words of final knowledge that will never
go out of date, no matter how far astronomical science
may advance.

Standing not long ago in an astronomical observa-
tory, talking with the director of that observatory,
who is a noted man, yet a devout Christian, I said to
him, "How could men know enough to make this al-
lusion?" He answered: "They did not know enough.
There was no way for them to know it." Then, to get
his answer, I asked, "Whence came this question?"
"Ah," said he, "that came by the inspiration of the
Word of God. It is an infallible evidence of the ab-
solute knowledge and truth contained in that book."

Now what do we know, in these latter days, regard-
ing this wonderful star, that brilliant, shining orb,
Arcturus? Astronomers have found that all the stars
apparently are swiftly moving — moving through the
great depths of space like swarms of bees, each in its
own course. They have found that these movements
average a speed as great as that of the swiftly flying
cannon ball, or even greater. The average motion of
the stars is ten miles a second. This is a marvelous
velocity. That of our fastest express trains, going

ARCTURUS WITH HIS SONS 173

a mile a minute, or sixty miles an hour, is as nothing
compared with it. Ten miles a second is six hundred
miles a minute. Therefore the velocity of the stars
is six hundred times that of our fastest trains. A body
traveling at this rate would go from New York to
Chicago in a little more than a minute, or from New
York to San Francisco in less than five minutes.

Such a velocity the mind cannot grasp. It is im-
possible to picture, for the eye has never seen anything
from which the mind could make the picture. Such
is the velocity of the stars. Such is the speed that
our own sun is making through space every second of
time. At his unflagging velocity, it moves ten or
twelve miles while you are reading one sentence.

But what do you think of a star that transcends in
velocity this movement that we have indicated? The
sun moves, as we have said, ten miles a second; but
Arcturus flies away at the incomprehensible velocity
of 257 miles a second, or nearly twenty-six times as
fast as our sun. Let us compare this tremendous ve-
locity with distances on the earth, and the motion of
a fast train. Instead of going a mile a minute, like
our express trains, Arcturus travels at the enormous
speed of 15,420 miles a minute. This would carry
a body around the world, or 25,000 miles, in a little
over a minute and a half. The mind cannot grasp
the awful movement depicted in these figures.

But that is not all there is to consider in this con-
nection. Momentum, or the power to produce move-
ment, and therefore the power to stop it, is measured
by the weight multiplied by the velocity. We have the

174 ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE

velocity of Arcturus, 257 miles a second. What about
its size?

As has already been stated, Arcturus is the fourth
or fifth brightest star in the heavens. This brightness
is not due to its nearness to us. For example, Venus
is sometimes bright enough to be seen in daylight.
This is because of its nearness. The light travels such
a short distance, comparatively, that it appears very
bright to us, whereas it is not nearly so bright as that
of the faintest of the stars. They shine more faintly
because they are at such extremely great distances
from us.

Arcturus shines with a very brilliant light, but it is
very far from us. In fact, it is so far that astronomers
have not been able to get its distance with anything
like accuracy. They know, however, in a general way,
somewhat near its distance; that is, they know that it
is no nearer than certain measurements which they
have been able to make. How much farther away it
is, they cannot say.

Basing their knowledge on this kind of generaliza-
tion, astronomers have concluded that Arcturus is
probably a thousand times larger than our own sun.

But our sun is no pygmy when compared with sizes
familiar to us. We can get some idea of his bigness
if we realize the following facts: The moon makes
a circle about the earth at a distance from the earth
of about 240,000 miles. If it were possible to place
the earth in the center of the sun, with the moon at the
same distance from the earth as now, both the earth
and the moon would be hidden entirely within the ball

ARCTURUS WITH HIS SONS 175

of the sun. But great as the sun is, we must multiply
this figure by one thousand to get a ball big enough
to match Arcturus.

Since momentum, as we have said, is measured by
velocity multiplied by the weight of the moving body,
the momentum of Arcturus must be 25,700 times as
great as the momentum of the sun, for it is one thou-
sand times as large, and moves 25.7 times as swiftly.

Ah, is it strange, then, that inspiration selected this
particular star? Is it strange, then, that God chal-
lenges men and points out man's littleness as compared
with the power of the Creator? In this instance of
Arcturus, what a lesson there is for us — the lesson,
first of all, that God's Word contains infallible knowl-
edge, facts above the science of the times in which it
was written, facts beyond the ken of unassisted mor-
tals. That one verse in Job stands like a beacon on a
mountain top, and points men to the fact of its in-
spiration.

And we must learn the lesson, too, of the unmeas-
ured might of Him who can guide, yea, who can give
impulse of movement to, such a star, and with that
star, all that belong in its train.

We cannot account for the stupendous movement of
this apparently runaway star by the laws of gravita-
tion. Astronomers have studied the matter carefully,
and have given it up as a hopeless task. The attrac-
tive power of every star and world and satellite in the
universe neither could start Arcturus into such a head-
long pace, nor stay it one iota in its magnificent sweep
through the limitless bounds of space.

176 ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE

And more, man cannot guide it, cannot understand
its guidance, cannot account for that guidance by any
mathematical or mechanical means; he must confess
that God controls and moves this giant on its way, or
that there is no explanation of the extraordinary phe-
nomenon.

And if men, all men, yea, every human being that
ever lived on this planet, could unite in one gigantic
effort, could concentrate all the energy of all the
muscles that ever worked beneath the sun, into one
grand effort to stay Arcturus in its course, that effort
would be as futile as to shoot a paper wad against a
fast flying express train.

We must respond to the challenge of the Almighty,
to this question of inspiration: No, we cannot guide
Arcturus and his sons. It is not in us, in any of us or
all of us, to guide him in his majestic march through
the heavens; but the Lord can and does guide him.
"For that He is strong in power, not one is lacking."
Isa. 40 : 26, A. R. V.

"The hand that bears creation up,
Can guide His children still."

Nebula in Cygnus

This dainty streamer of glowing wisps of light seems to defy

the astronomer's effort to analyze.

The Surface of the Moon
The large picture shows how the earth would appear to an
observer on the moon's surface. The smaller views illustrate
some of the "craters" on the moon, and two theories regard-
ing their formation.

CHAPTER XVII

The Gospel of Despair

THERE is one idea advanced by astronomers,
which, tried by the Word of God, is utterly er-
roneous. I feel inclined to call it the everlast-
ing gospel of despair. It is the idea that the sun and
all the stars must one day grow cold and die. True,
according to the speculations of these scientists, that
day is very distant ; but they say it is nevertheless quite
certain. Some day in the remote future, the sun and
the stars will roll on in space, cold as icicles, and dead
as cinders.

"If nothing intervenes to reverse the course of
things, the sun must at last solidify, and become a
dark, rigid globe, frozen and lifeless among its life-
less family of planets. At least, this is the necessary
consequence of what now seems to science to be the
true account of its present activity and the story of
its life."

"One lesson seems to stand out clearly, — that the
present system of stars and worlds is not an eternal
one." — Young's "General Astronomy" page 524.

177

178 ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE

''Sooner or later the sun must become a dark globe,
no longer fiery and radiant, no longer the source of
heat and light to his family of worlds. The dazzling
photosphere must lose its glowing brightness; and at
length our sun will be a sun no longer." "One fact
seems clear, past the possibility of mistake, — that not
only our little earth, not only the solar system, but the
whole vast stellar system, the universe of stars, so far
as we can know anything about it, is a changing, fleet-
ing, dying universe." — ''Radiant Suns," pages 30/-^0Q.

Scientists offer these ideas as mere theories and
speculation, and are not dogmatic about them. They
admit that there may be means by which the sun and
the stars will have their existence continued; there
may be some way by which their life is renewed; but
scientists know nothing of it. Yet they constantly
throw out cautions concerning this profound question
of which they know so little.

"In these matters occupying the dubious borderland
beyond scientific certainties, we have to be cautious;
we must be willing to wait, willing not to be sure. At
best, our outlook is very partial and dim. The con-
necting link between us and each far-off, glimmering
point consists of only a few rays of light. We can
watch those rays; we can subdivide them; we can
analyze them ; we can decipher a little of the make and
of the movements of the star or nebula from which
they come, — and yet how small is the sum total of our
information!" — Id., page 421.

"May we not receive even the teachings of science
as to the 'laws of nature' with the constant memory

THE GOSPEL OF DESPAIR 179

that all we know, even from science itself, depends
on our very limited sensations, our very limited ex-
perience, and our still more limited power of conceiv-
ing anything for which this experience has not pre-
pared us ?

"I have read somewhere a story about a race of
ephemeral insects which live but an hour. To those
that are born in the early morning, the sunrise is the
time of youth. They die of old age while its beams
are yet gathering force, and only their descendants live
on till midday; while it is another race which sees
the sun decline, from that which saw it rise. Imagine
the sun about to set, and the whole nation of mites
gathered under the shadow of some mushroom (to
them ancient as the sun itself) to hear what their wisest
philosopher has to say of the gloomy prospect. If I
remember right, he first told them that, incredible as
it might seem, there was not only a time in the world's
youth when the mushroom itself was young, but that
the sun in those early ages was in the eastern, not in
the western sky. Since then, he explained, the scien-
tific ephemera has followed it, and established, by in-
duction from vast experience, the great 'law of na-
ture,' that it moved only westward; and he showed
that since it was now nearing the western horizon,
science herself pointed to the conclusion that it was
about to disappear forever, together with the great
race of ephemerae for which it was created.

"What his hearers thought of this discourse I do not
remember, but I have heard that the sun rose again
the next morning !" — "The New Astronomy/'

180 ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE

Thus we find that science has nothing definite to
offer. We must go elsewhere if we would know the
truth of these things. Are all worlds limited in their
period of existence? Has God built the universe to
last but a season ? Did He place the suns upon such a
basis of existence that they must ultimately become
exhausted? Is the world one day to become as bar-
ren as the moon now seems to be? Is the sun to be-
come as dead as a cinder and as dark as the shadows
of forgetfulness ? Science, so-called, says Yes; the
Word of God says No.

God gave the sun to rule the day, and the moon to
rule the night. (Gen. i : i6.) He says: ''If ye can
break My covenant of the day, and My covenant of
the night, and that there should not be day and night
in their season ; then may also My covenant be broken
with David My servant, that he should not have a son
to reign upon his throne." Jer. 33 : 20, 21. This cove-
nant of day and night involves the sun and the moon ;
and the covenant with David is the promise of Christ.
In another place, God speaks of these same things:
"My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that
is gone out of My lips. Once have I sworn by My
holiness that I will not lie unto David. His seed shall
endure forever, and his throne as the sun before Me.
It shall be established forever as the moon, and as a
faithful witness in heaven." Ps. 89 : 34-37.

This is a promise of the eternal reign of Christ,
the Seed of David ; and God makes that reign coexist-
ent with the sun and the moon. Christ's throne is to
be "a faithful witness in heaven."

THE GOSPEL OF DESPAIR 181

The promises of God in Christ are as enduring as
the sun and the moon. Do you beHeve that Christ's
kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom? Then you
must believe that the sun and the moon will endure as
luminaries through the same unending ages. The sun
and the moon perform their work by the delegated
power of God. They are just as enduring as the king-
dom of Christ. God's promises in Christ are just as
sure as the ordinances of the sun and the moon. If
either goes, both go. All things are in Christ; and
all that He upholds, remains while He remains. They
are upheld "by the word of His power." By Him they
all consist.

Think you there is any danger that the sun and the
moon will fail? — Oh, no! "By the greatness of His
might, and for that He is strong in power, not one is
lacking." Isa. 40:26, R.V. "His ability and strong
power are so great that not one of them can be lack-
ing."— German Bible. "By the greatness of His
might, and strength, and power, not one of them was
missing." — Latin Vulgate.

They cannot fail. He is too strong to allow any
of His work to go to ruin. The laws of God in re-
spect to the heavenly bodies are as inviolate as the law
written and engraved on tables of stone. His promises
concerning the things of nature are as certain as His
promises to your soul.

The sun is one of the stars. We are told that the
stars are to shine forever. "And they that be wise
shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and
they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for-

182 ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE

ever and ever." Dan. 12 : 3. In one particular, those
who turn many to righteousness are to shine as the
stars. That one particular is here specified — they,
like the stars, are to shine "forever and ever."

Instead of the sun's growing colder and darker, it
is to be even brighter in the promised days of God.
The moon is not to lose its light, but to shine far
brighter when the sun takes on its sevenfold radiance,
in the days of restitution. "The light of the moon
shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the
sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in
the day that the Lord bindeth up the breach of His
people, and healeth the stroke of their wound." Isa.
30 : 26.

Thus in various ways and in numerous places has
God revealed, in clear and unmistakable language,
the future of the universe. Scientific speculation, by
the little data it has gathered, certainly has misread the
truth. It has misread the truth because it lacks some
essential fact or facts. But God's Word discerns all
facts, and has given us the truth which conforms to
the facts. Let us not be troubled by the speculations
of men while there is left to us the immutable Word
of God. No true science opposes that Word ; for
God's Word is science.

"There is a recognized tendency in all high-class
energy to deteriorate to a lower class. There is steam
in the boiler, but it wastes without fuel. There is
electricity in the jar, but every particle of air steals
away a little, unless our conscious force is exerted to
regather it. There is light in the sun, but infinite

THE GOSPEL OF DESPAIR 183

space waits to receive it, and takes it swift as light
can leap. We said that if the sun were pure coal, it
would burn out in five thousand years, but it blazes
undimmed by the million. How can it be? There
have been various theories: chemical combustion, it
has failed; meteoric impact, it is insufficient; conden-
sation, it is not proved; and if it were, it is an
intermediate step back to the original cause of con-
densation. The farseeing eyes see in the sun the pres-
ent active power of Him who first said, 'Let there be
light,' and who, at any moment, can meet a Saul in the
way to Damascus with a light above the brightness of
the sun — another noon arisen on midday; and of
whom it shall be said in the eternal state of unclouded
brightness, where sun and moon are no more, 'The
glory of the Lord shall lighten it, and the Lamb is
the light thereof.' " — ''Recreations in Astronomy,'' by
H. W. Warren, D. D.

Light was created at the beginning ; God spoke, and,
lo, it was! "He commanded, and it stood fast" —
continued as it was. (Ps. 33:9.) Let me repeat: He
bade Hght be ; it was. And at this, its first appearance,
it was but energy from God — a manifestation of
God through Christ.

Now mark the next step: God issued the fiat that,
as light had come, so it should continue. When it
came at the first command of God, it was energy from
God — God's manifestation. Then God commanded
that as it had come, so it should continue, or "stand
fast." Still it is energy from God; it is still a mani-
festation of God in Christ. The same power that made

184 ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE

it first appear, still feeds it. Thus the shining of light
is a continuing of the creative act; it is a prolonging
of creation. Watch the effect of light in spring days
upon the bursting buds and springing grasses, and you
will not doubt the truth.

How God can continue to do this and not exhaust
Himself, is a silly question. Does God lose anything?
— The conservation of energy is a law to which we
know no exception. In the universe of God, nothing
is lost. The leaves on this year's trees may fall and
wither and decay; but they only drop into the earth
to enrich the soil, to feed the leaves that are to come
again in some later years. Water is continually leav-
ing the ocean and entering the clouds, later to fall
upon the earth and bathe and refresh it ; but every drop
in time gets back, to go once more the selfsame round.
Shall God send light and heat out into space, and
shall it be thereby lost to Him, and beyond His power
to gather it again ? Perhaps He does not care to gather
it again ; it may serve other uses. We are sure, how-
ever, that it is not lost.

''Through faith we understand that the worlds were
framed by the word of God." The word that framed
the worlds called light into existence. That is all we
know about it: it was by the word of God. Light
came in obedience to God's word; and now it con-
tinues because He gave His command. By the utter-
ance of His word, God produced all that fills His
boundless universe; and in the same manner. He can
cause the sun to produce light and heat through the un-
tiring ages. The sun shines on, but it is not consumed.

THE GOSPEL OF DESPAIR 185

Moses, in his day, beheld a wonder when "the angel
of the Lord appeared unto him in a flame of fire out
of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold,
the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not con-
sumed."

That was a marvelous thing. "The bush burned
with fire, and the bush was not consumed." That was
a stupendous miracle. But in the heavens above us
every day, we see the same wonder, — a wonder that
is to be perpetuated throughout the rolling cycles of
eternity. The sun, with all its blaze of heat and light,
ever burns, to bathe the earth in its rays, and give
light and energy to all its creatures. And it is not
consumed.

No wonder that men, having lost sight of God, wor-
shiped the sun ; but let us look up and away from the
central orb of our solar system, to Him who is the
center of the universe, the source of all we are or ever
hope to be, and whose tender mercies are over all His
works.

I

CHAPTER XVIII

Difference in Glory

' ^ "I" T used to be thought that the stars were all very
much alike in magnitude and constitution; not,
indeed, without considerable difference, but as
much resembling each other as do individuals of the
same race." — Young's "Astronomy."

That one star shines more brightly than another
was always apparent. But men thought that one star
was brighter than another simply because it was nearer
to us. They did not believe that the difference in the
radiance of different stars meant an actual difference
in the stars themselves.

But there came a time when men learned that this
explanation was not sufficient. There might be in-
stances where one star was brighter than another
simply because it was nearer; but as the distances to
the stars came to be measured, it was found that some-
times a very bright star is actually many times farther
away than another star very inferior in brilliancy.

Alpha Centauri is about two hundred and thirty
thousand times farther from us than is the sun. This

i86

DIFFERENCE IN GLORY 187

star has a companion which emits about one sixth as
much Hght as itself. According to the most careful
estimate of the brilliancy of Alpha Centauri, the light
we receive from it is about ig qso'ooo ooo ^^ ^^^^ which
we receive from the sun. But if the sun were re-
moved to a distance equal to that of Alpha Centauri,
it would shine with only 52,900,000,000 P^^^ of its pres-
ent brilliancy. It follows, therefore, that the star emits
about three times as much light as the sun. A man
situated at Alpha Centauri would see the sun as a star
one third as bright as Alpha Centauri appears to us.
Here is a difference which cannot be accounted for by
a difference of distance.

Take for another example the light of the star
Sirius. Because our sun is much nearer than Sirius,
it is much brighter. Sirius is considered to be half a
million times farther away than the sun. If the earth
were midway between the places these two bodies
now occupy, the sun would give us one twelfth the
light now given by Sirius, and Sirius would shine four
times brighter. Since four times twelve is forty-eight,
it follows that Sirius is forty-eight times brighter in-
trinsically than the sun.

By similar reasoning, it is judged that if Alpha Cen-
tauri were removed to the distance at which 61 Cygni
lies from us, although thereby its light would be dimin-
ished to one ninth of its present value, it would never-
theless outshine either component of the double star
61 Cygni more than eleven times.

In these instances, distances would not account for
the difference in brightness. There appears to be an

188 ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE

actual difference in the stars themselves when placed
at equal distances from us. Men had a ready expla-
nation for this. It showed, they said, a difference in
size. Assuming this, the diameter of Sirius may be
held to exceed that of our sun in the proportion of
about fourteen to one, or to have a diameter of nearly
twelve million miles, and a volume two thousand six
hundred and eighty-eight times as great as the sun's.

But is this second explanation, joined with the first,
able to account for the difference in star luster ? — No ;
there is still another factor. Astronomers have found
that there is one more characteristic of the stars which
they must not overlook if they would be with the facts.

"The differences of brightness are due, first, to dif-
ference of distance; second, to difference of dimen-
sions, or of light-giving area ; third, to difference in the
brilliance of the light-giving surface, depending upon
difference of temperature and constitution. . . .

"As Bessel puts it, there is no reason why there may
not be 'as many dark stars as bright ones.' . . . The
companion of Sirius, though only giving about one
twelve-thousandth part as much light as Sirius itself,
is at least one tenth part as heavy; so that, mass for
mass, it cannot be one one-thousandth part as lumi-
nous."

In the case of Sirius and its companion, we have two
stars equally distant, or nearly so, from us. But by
investigation regarding the perturbations in their orbits
through their mutual attraction, which is directly as
the mass, it has been ascertained that Sirius is about
ten times the heavier; and careful measure of the light

DIFFERENCE IN GLORY 189

we receive from them respectively, proves that Sirius
sends us twelve thousand times as much as the com-
panion star. It is thus easily found that in proportion
to its mass, the companion star is not one thousandth
part as luminous as is Sirius.

These are the findings of modern astronomy. Stu-
dents of the skies have at length reached the great and
final truth that "one star diflfereth from another star
in glory," or radiance. It took much patient, careful,
accurate investigation, and it took time, to gather suf-
ficient facts to get at last to the great truth. But the
student of the Word was told, nearly two thousand
years ago, that one star differs from another star in
radiance. Here was the great truth, given by the God
who made the stars. Here was a truth which com-
prehended the facts. But men refused to credit the
truth until they could find it through the facts.

Had they believed the Word, and conducted their
investigations in its light, doubtless it would have been
to them an invaluable aid. When that faith entered,
knowledge of the truth would have come with that
faith. The only thing left to do would have been to
find the facts. But God knew that it would be ages
before the facts could be gathered one by one. For
our own best good, He left us to search them out; but
to keep us from ignorance during the interval, He gave
us the eternal truth. And astronomers, though they
should live everlasting years, would never be able to
revise or amend this simple statement of God.

One star differs from another in brilliancy. An ac-
cumulation of facts, and very careful reasoning from

190 ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE

them, have brought us face to face with the fact that
one star differs from another star in luster. It must be
so, not because the falHble judgment of man asserts
it, but because that Word which is above man's judg-
ment, and which is above all man's science, and which
is ever and forever true science, declares it so.

The Word tells us that "one star differeth from an-
other star in glory." No two stars are alike. And
the great difference in the stars, the Word announces,
lies in the difference in their glory. This says to us,
Would you know the difference between one star and
another? Study their glory, for therein lies their dif-
ference.

The word "glory" in the Bible means essentially
character and radiance. I will not attempt to show this
here, but a careful study of the term will reveal the
fact. Glory means character ; but it always carries the
idea of luster, brilliancy, light. The relation of char-
acter and brightness as embodied in the word "glory,"
seems to be that of cause and effect; the brightness is
the outshining, or manifestation, of the character.

And so the passage says to us: One star differs
from another star in character and brilliancy. Study
that luster, examine that light, if you would know the
difference in character of the stars one from another.
One star differs from another star in glory, and that
means for you that there is a difference in their light.
Study that light, and you will know their difference.

As we study the difference in a number of artificial
lights, there is one difference that first of all attracts
our attention. If a candle, a lamp, an electric light,

DIFFERENCE IN GLORY 191

and an acetylene light, are placed at equal distance
from the eye, and the light in each case is of the same
size, the spot of brightness in each case will be of the
same size. But the brilliancy is not equal. The candle
is quite dim, the lamp shines a trifle brighter, and the
acetylene and the electric light, though possibly smaller
in size than the other two, far outrival them in bril-
liancy. One light differs from another in brightness.

Carrying our investigations to the regions of the
skies, as we are to find the difference in the stars one
from another by the difference in their light, we ask,
Is one star brighter than another? And after long
and careful search and much thinking, astronomy
answers that some stars are much brighter than other
stars, even as an electric light outshines a candle. One
star differs from another star in radiance, or brilliancy.

Let us go back to artificial lights and begin a new
investigation. We burn salt in a white light — the
light turns from white to yellow. We mix alcohol and
boracic acid and ignite them — a beautiful green flame
results. In the same way, alcohol and nitrate of stron-
tia give red flame. In these experiments, a difference
in the character of the thing consumed gives a differ-
ence in the light emitted.

Again turning to the stars, we wonder if we shall
find anything like this in the light they emit. We dis-
cern that Aldebaran and Betelgeuse shine with a bright
red light; Sirius, Regulus, Vega, and Spica are white;
Procyon, Capella, and Polaris are yellow. As a differ-
ence in the character of the objects giving out the
artificial light gave a difference in color, so astrono-

192 ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE

mers argue that a difference in the constitution of the
stars gives a difference in their Hght. It has also been
learned that vapor affects the color of the light passing
through it. And in heating an iron, we notice that it
at first is a dull red, but becoming hotter, emits a white
light. Thus we reason by analogy that there may be
a difference in the character of the stars or in the vapor
about them, producing the difference in color.

What is all this study but a careful investigation
that was commenced and outlined in the Bible state-
ment that *'one star differeth from another in glory"?
Studying that glory, we may have been led up to some
idea of the difference in the stars themselves. "We
are charmed with the variegated flowers of our garden
of earth; but He who makes the fields blush with
flowers under the warm kisses of the sun, has planted
His wider garden of space with colored stars. 'The
rainbow flower of the footstool, and the starry flowers
of the throne,' proclaim one Being as the Author of
them all." — H. W. Warren,

But there are other differences in light ; and by this
difference, we learn of new differences in the heavenly
bodies. The passage under consideration tells us that
"there is one glory of the sun, and another glory of
the moon." Then the reason follows: "for one star
differeth from another star in glory."

We are here told that the glory of the moon is one
glory, and that the glory of the sun is another glory.
To demonstrate it, we gather up the light coming from
each, and look for the difference in that; because the
sun differs from the moon in its light.

SiRius, A Celestial Furnace

The most brilliant star in the heavens. Many times larger and

brighter than our sun. It has an almost invisible companion

that revolves around Sirius in about fifty years.

#' \

'^^

^\

The 36-INCH Lick Telescope

DIFFERENCE IN GLORY 193

"If the direct light of the sun be received upon a
plate of polished black glass, it can be reflected in any
direction upon the walls of a room. The character of
light thus reflected is radically changed. The proper-
ties of the reflected ray are not now symmetrical
around the ray. There are certain directions in which
it cannot again be reflected." — Appleton's ''Physics/'

Light coming from the sun can be reflected in any
direction by a mirror or by a plate of polished black
glass. This is an essential of light coming from the
sun, or, for that matter, from any self-luminous body
— the light can be reflected in any direction.

But light that has once been reflected cannot be again
reflected in every direction. There is one plane in
which it refuses to be again reflected. It is then said
to be polarized. When two mirrors are set so that the
light of each is incident at an angle of 54° 35', no light
will be reflected from the second mirror; a black spot
will appear in the field of view. If the mirrors are
kept at this angle, and the upper one is revolved about
a vertical axis, the light will grow brighter until the
mirror has turned 90° ; then it grows feeble continu-
ously until the mirror has turned another 90°, when
it is again zvholly extinguished.

To discover whether light is reflected, an instru-
ment called the polarscope is used. By means of this
instrument, we may examine a given ray of light, and
know definitely whether the ray has come direct from
some self-luminous body, or if it has been reflected.
Applying this investigation to the light that comes
from the moon, we find that the moon shines by re-

13

194 ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE

fleeted or borrowed light ; and by the same means, we
can always determine whether light from the heavenly
bodies is reflected from planets and moons, or emitted
by suns.

The Creator determined, in the constitution of light,
that bodies reflecting light should not be mistaken for
those which are self-luminous. The Hght of the moon
is essentially different from that of the sun ; otherwise
we should certainly have been deceived as to the char-
acter of these two heavenly bodies. But God will not
deceive; He will not even allow a deception in the
works of His hands.

But He who created light and gave it all its proper-
ties knew just what these properties are. He knew
that the glory of the sun was not the glory of the
moon, and He told us that "there is one glory of the
sun, and another glory of the moon," for one differs
from the other in glory. We ought to have believed
in His Word. He made light so that it would bring
us the message of this difference in the sun and the
moon, and then He sent us the same message in His
Word. Had we not been set in our own way, we
would have received that message long ago, and our
science must have been the better for it, and astronomy
would thus have been far in advance of what it is.
God does not want us to be in ignorance. From every
side, He offers encouragement and inducement. He
gives us most earnest invitation, "If any of you lack
wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men
liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall he given
him"

DIFFERENCE IN GLORY 195

But light reveals more wonderfully still a difference
of one star from another; and this difference of one
star from another, remember, is revealed by the differ-
ence in the light they emit. Light is supposed to be
undulations in the ether. These undulations are very
minute and of wonderful velocity. Let a ray of light,
entering a dark room, pass through a glass prism. "It
is instantly turned out of its course, some parts more
and some less, according to the number of vibrations,
and appears as seven colors in different parts of the
screen."

"None of these in any sense are color, but affect
the eye differently, and we call these different ef-
fects color. They are simply various velocities of
vibration. An object like one kind of stripe in our
flag, which absorbs all kinds of vibrations except those
between 396 and 470,ocx),ooo,cx)0,ooo, and reflects
those, appears red to us. The field for the stars ab-
sorbs and destroys all but those vibrations numbering
about 653,000,000,000,000 of vibration per second. A
color is a constant creation. Light makes momentary
color in the flag." — H. W. Warren.

But let us examine this spectrum of various colors
rather than the theory which men advance to account
for it. If we examine this band of colors spread out
from the white ray of sunlight, we do not find each
color simple. Red is not simply red, neither is yellow
simply yellow, etc., but there are all along through
the spectrum a vast number of fine microscopic lines
of various lengths. They are parallel, in some places
near together, in other places far apart, but always of

196 ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE

the same number and the same relative distance when
the same light and prism are employed.

"A patient study of these signs of substance reveals
richer results than a study of the cuneiform characters
engraved on Assyrian slabs; for one is the handwrit-
ing of men, the other the handwriting of God."

As Warren has said, these lines are the alphabets to
new realms of knowledge. They are produced by spe-
cific substances in the sun. Each substance has its
own peculiar line or lines. Sodium always has two
lines in a certain place in the yellow. Light passing
through vapor of sodium has the vibrations that would
fall on these two narrow lines in the yellow utterly
destroyed, leaving instead two black spaces. Light
passing through vapor of burning iron has hundreds
of vibrations absorbed, leaving in their stead that num-
ber of black lines; but if the salt or iron is glowing
gas, in the source of the light itself, the same lines are
bright instead of dark.

By taking advantage of these principles, we can de-
tect the presence of a large number of well-known
terrestrial elements in the sun. The solar spectrum
is crossed by dark lines, which, with an instrument of
high dispersion, number several thousand; and by
proper arrangement, it is possible to identify among
these lines many that are due to the presence, in the
sun's lower atmosphere, of known terrestrial elements
in the state of vapor.

"Thus we have brought to our doors a readable
record of the very substances composing every world
hot enough to shine by its own light. We find in our

DIFFERENCE IN GLORY 197

sun many substances known to exist in the earth, and
some that we had not discovered when the sun wrote
their name, or rather made their mark, in the spec-
trum."— H. W. Warren.

"The reader now understands that when the Hght
from a celestial object is analyzed by the prism, and
the component colors are spread out singly as on a
sheet, the dark and bright lines which we see are the
letters of the open book which we are to read so as
to learn what they tell us of the body from which the
light came, or the vapors through which it passed.
When we see a line or a set of Hues which we recog-
nize as produced by a known substance, we infer the
presence of that substance. The question may now be
asked, How do we know but that the lines we observe
may be produced by other substances besides those
which we find to produce them in our laboratories?
May not the same lines be produced by different sub-
stances ?

"This question can be answered only by an appeal
to probabilities. The evidence in the case is much the
same as that by which, recognizing the picture of a
friend, we conclude that it is not the picture of any
one else. For anything we can prove to the contrary,
another person might have exactly the same features,
and might, therefore, make the very same picture;
but, as a matter of fact, we know that practically
no two men whom we have seen do look exactly
alike, and it is extremely improbable that they would
ever look so. The case is the same in spectrum analy-
sis. Among the great number of substances which

198 ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE

have been examined with the spectroscope, no two
give the same Hnes. It is therefore extremely im-
probable that a given system of bright lines could be
produced by more than one substance." — Newcomh's
"Astronomy."

Up to 1891, scientists, by means of the spectroscope,
had determined thirty-six elements present in the solar
atmosphere. Among these are the following well-
known elements: calcium, iron, hydrogen, sodium,
nickel, magnesium, cobalt, silicon, aluminum, manga-
nese, carbon, copper, zinc, cadmium, silver, tin, lead,
and potassium.

Astronomers expect in time to find present in the
sun all the elements that are present in the earth. They
have found some elements which, until their discovery
in the sun, were unknown. Thus helium, coronium,
and argon were found in the sun, but it was not known
whether they existed in the earth. At once a search
was made, and both argon and helium have been de-
tected. In 1895, helium was at last identified by Ram-
say, in connection with his researches upon argon.
He found the lines of helium in gas discharged from
uraninite and other minerals, where it is associated
with the so-called "rare earths." Argon has been dis-
covered in our atmosphere.

But as yet the most careful observation has failed
to find in the sun the slightest trace of bromine, chlo-
rine, iodine, nitrogen, arsenic, boron, or phosphorus.
There are some doubtful indications of sulphur; and
regarding oxygen, "the evidence, on the whole, is
against its presence, though the case is peculiar."

DIFFERENCE IN GLORY 199

What a marvelous message is this which light brings
to us in its analysis ! The light from glowing sub-
stances is in no two cases alike. Burning iron gives
out hundreds of bands in the spectrum, sodium two,
and other elements but one. We do not expect to find
the spectra of two elements to be the same, any more
than we expect to find photographs of two different
persons to look exactly alike. The Creator gave light
this marvelous message. He endowed it with the
power of revealing thus the absolute character of the
thing emitting the light. And light was so endowed
evidently for this very purpose, that it might bring
us word of conditions in far-away worlds. And as
no two elements give the same kind of light, and as
probably no two stars have precisely the same elements
in the same proportion, the light coming from the
stars cannot be in any two cases precisely the same.
The stars differ in their constituent elements. Every
ray they flash forth bears in its very being signs of
what they are. "Hence the eye of Omniscience, seeing
a ray of light anywhere in the universe, though gone
from its source a thousand years, would be able to tell
from what orb it originally came."

As we are known by our doing, so the stars are
known by their light. The eye of All-wisdom views
a ray of light, and knows, as you know the words of
this book, the marvelous message it carries. "One
star differeth from another star." He who created
them, sees their message in the light they emit. And
He tells us to see that which may be seen; namely,
that "one star differeth from another star in glory,"

CHAPTER XIX

The Vastness of His Power

VERY few have any conception of the wonder-
ful energies revealed in the material universe.
Before we consider the forces manifested by the
stars in space, let us for a few moments think of some
of the marvelous energies at work close at hand.

Consider the air we breathe. We are not conscious
of the power wrapped up in this invisible agency ; yet
it is held closely hugging the earth by the tremendous
downward pressure of gravity. This pressure amounts
to about fifteen pounds to the square inch. We do not
feel it, for it is through us as well as about us. We are
immersed in it. We are saturated with it. The whole
pressure on this earth, expressed in tons, requires six-
teen digits, being close to 5,517,823,961,480,000 tons.
In round numbers, we may say it is five thousand mil-
lions of milHons of tons. But this is but one letter, so
to speak, in the alphabet of God's power in the world.
Consider next the rain. Listen to its patter. The
drops mean an annual fall of millions of tons of water
on the earth's surface. The average quantity of water

200

THE FASTNESS OF HIS POWER 201

held suspended in the air at any time, is estimated to
be more than 50,000,000,000,000 tons. The annual
rainfall has been estimated to be about two hundred
thousand cubic miles. If spread out equally at one
time over the land portion of the globe, it would cover
all the continents of Asia, Africa, Europe, and North
and South America, with water twenty feet deep. All
this enormous weight of water is lifted without sound
or agitation or seeming effort.

What gigantic energy is this, that lifts tons as easily
as we lift feathers ! To such a power, removing moun-
tains is mere child's play.

But the pressure of the atmosphere on the earth, or
the pressure of the water that falls, is as nothing to
the pressure of the water at the bottom of the oceans.
At a depth of two thousand five hundred fathoms, the
pressure is estimated to be two and a half tons to the
square inch. Each one of those inches of water pres-
sure would run twenty-five ordinary railway trains if
it could be properly applied.

Yet the Word of God declares that He measures the
waters in the hollow of His hand. Isa. 40 : 12.

Think next of the marvelous energy that operates
throughout the vegetable world. In a single pulpy
squash. Professor Clark, of Amherst, Massachusetts,
demonstrated a power of two and a half tons. No one
knows how much more it might have lifted, as the
measuring apparatus failed at this point. All over the
globe, this energy of vegetable life is constantly and
untiringly exerted. The little daisy that blossoms in
the meadow, the vast acres of wheat that wave in the

202 ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE

summer winds, each bunch of grass in the pastures,
every cornstalk that rustles on the prairies, the shrub
that ornaments the landscape, and every giant tree
that wrestles with the wind, — these all show some-
thing of the stupendous power manifested by the vege-
table kingdom.

But let us next consider the tides of power flowing
down upon the earth in the genial rays of the summer
sun. According to recent measurements, it appears
that on every square yard of the earth's surface ex-
posed perpendicularly to the sun's rays, in the absence
of an absorbing atmosphere, there could be derived
more than one horse power, if the heat were all con-
verted to this use. At the equator, a steamer could be
driven at a fair rate of speed, by utiHzing only the
sunshine that beats down upon its decks. On so small
an area as Manhattan Island, or that occupied by the
city of London, the noontide heat is enough, could it
all be applied thus, to drive all the steam engines in the
world. Thus we see that millions of horse power, un-
measured by man, are rained down upon us in the form
of sunlight. If we were able to gather up this energy
in some way and store it for use, daylight alone would
furnish an inexhaustible supply of power.

The sun, besides supplying us with light and heat,
keeps the earth always near it by the force of gravi-
tation. Seldom do we think of the mighty pull it is
always exerting upon this earth. It reaches out also
to lay hold upon worlds much larger than ours, much
farther away in the confines of space, and that travel
in much vaster orbits ; and these too it holds in an un-

THE FASTNESS OF HIS POWER 203

breakable grip. To represent the power exerted be-
tween our earth and the sun only, we might in thought
substitute wires for the invisible pull now existing.
Each wire between the earth and the sun would have
to sustain a pull of fifteen hundred pounds, three quar-
ters of a ton ; and they would have to be placed so close
together all over the side of the earth exposed to the
sun that a mouse could not run between them.

But this is a mere fraction of the power that works
in the sun. And that shining orb is only a private, as it
were, in the immense armies of the heavens. Besides
it, there are suns upon suns, many of them much
brighter and mightier than it.

The sun is only one of the luminaries of the sky. It
has a train of worlds under its sway. Each star in the
heavens is a sun; and though we cannot see the dim
light of planets so far away, we are sure, from the ex-
ample of our solar system, that other suns too have
their loyal attendants. If we could take our station at
one of these far-away stars, from those distant regions,
our sun would dwindle into a tiny spot of light, and
the very greatest of our planets would be entirely in-
visible, even through the largest telescope. Shining
by reflected light only, the rays would be obscured in
crossing but a small portion of the great abyss that
intervenes. From that far-off viewpoint, our whole
solar system would be reduced to the faint glimmer of
a little star.

There is no good reason for us to doubt that the
stars of the heavens have also their attendant worlds,
although these are invisible to us from the earth. Out

204 ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE

there in space may be systems even vaster and more
splendid than our own. As the stars are without num-
ber, so probably are these systems of worlds. Who,
then, can measure the power of the Creator in this
matter of gravitation between suns and worlds ! God
peoples immensity with His wonders, and reigns with
majesty and might through the unsounded deeps of
His unlimited dominions.

''Standing upon the latest found of all the planets,
at a distance of more than 3,000,000,000 miles from the
sun, we are able to look backwards, and examine
the worlds and systems which are all embraced within
the vast circumference of Neptune's orbit. An occa-
sional comet, overleaping this mighty boundary, and
flying swiftly past us, buries itself in the great abyss
of space, to return after its long journey of a thousand
years, and report to the inhabitants of earth the in-
fluences which have swayed its movement in the in-
visible regions whither it speeds its flight.

"The magnificence and complexity of the great sys-
tem of planets, and satellites, and comets, which con-
stitute the sun's retinue, the immense magnitude of
some of these globes, their periods of revolution, and
reciprocal action, would seem to furnish sufficient ex-
ercise, not only for the highest intellectual efforts, but
for the entire energy which the human mind can exert.
But the whole of this stupendous scheme, as we shall
soon see, is but an infinitesimal portion of the universe
of God, one unit among the unnumbered millions
which fill the crowded regions of space. Standing
on the verge of the planetary system, we find our-

THE FASTNESS OF HIS POWER 205

selves surrounded by a multitude of shining orbs, some
radiant with splendor, others faintly gleaming with
beauty. The smallest telescopic aid suffices to increase
their number in an incredible degree; while with the
full power of the grand instruments now in use, the
scenes presented in the starry heavens become actu-
ally so magnificent as to stun the imagination and
overwhelm the reason. Worlds and systems, and
schemes and clusters, and universes, rise in sublime
perspective, fading away in the unfathomable regions
of space, until even thought itself fails in its efforts
to plunge across the gulf by which we are separated
from these wonderful objects." — 0. M. Mitchel, "The
Orbs of Heaven/' pages i6p, i/o.

But all this vast display of stars and worlds and
clusters and universes but spells out the magic story
of God's unmeasured power. The One who did all
this can do anything. He is, indeed, omnipotent; for
all that we see from this earth, by the eye or the
camera, are but the suburbs of God's boundless do-
minions.

Think, too, of their motions through the oceans of
space. On the earth, winds moving a hundred miles
an hour are called tornadoes. They sweep everything
clean in their path. But in the sun, there are tornadoes
that travel more than a thousand miles an hour. How
can we measure such energies?

On the earth, trains may run at the great speed of
a mile a minute; but the sun and others of the stars
travel twelve miles a second, or seven hundred and
twenty miles a minute. Hardly any of them travel

206 ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE

slower than the flying cannon ball. The velocity of
the stars is, on an average, six hundred times the speed
of the express train that makes its mile a minute. New
York to Chicago in a little over a minute ! New York
to San Francisco in four minutes ! This is about the
average speed of the stars.

But what about a speed of fifteen thousand miles in
a minute !

The motion of Arcturus, which some have called
the runaway star, is at this frightful velocity.

God's power is without measure. He is the Mighty
One. Through the wide oceans of space, suns and
worlds are spinning like tops, unceasingly in motion.
They are hurled in orbits swifter by seventy times than
the speed of the rifle bullet. They never move an inch
out of their appointed paths, and never the fraction of
a second out of time. Of this upholding might, Christ
has said, "All power is given unto Me in heaven and
in earth." "All power," yet who shall measure it !

We have, however, called up but a mere figment of
the manifestations of God's power. What it really
measures is all unknown to man. Could he essay to
measure it, he would find it infinite. In the field of
the Creator's activities, we have not as yet even learned
our A B Cs. It is impossible for us to spell out the
first easy words, if such there be, in the sweeping vast-
ness of universe power.

"Lo, these are parts of His ways: but how little a
portion is heard of Him? but the thunder of His
power who can understand ?" Job 26 : 14.

CHAPTER XX

His Definite Foreknowledge

THE future — how it impresses humanity ! What
burden does it carry with which ultimately to
crush us? What fulfillment of our hopes awaits
within it? What will come to us out of its immen-
sity? What will we ultimately lose?

It was this strenuous desire to penetrate the fu-
ture which caused the God-forsaken Saul to seek out
the witch of Endor. He anticipated and dreaded his
fate in the coming battle, and he was determined to
find out, if he could, the trend of events, even if he
had to secure it from an agent of Satan. But the
evil one does not of himself know the future. He
may know some of the prophecies, and thus gauge
certain events; or he may make shrewd guesses by
reading the effect from the cause. But even here
he is often frustrated, because at the last moment,
God may send in some influence that directly changes
the course of events.

In that wonderful chapter of Revelation in which
the future is represented as a great sealed book, we

207

208 ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE

are told that no one could open it, or even look upon
it, except the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Lamb of
God. Christ, as the representative of the human race,
is the only one delegated of God to make known the
history of the world in advance.

But there are those who deny even to God this
ability to read the future. The fact that the future
is a mystery to man, is no reason for us to say that
God cannot foreknow. But if God did not know
all that is coming, He would not be able to promise
anything to His creatures. Because God foreknows
all things. He is able to say to us just what He can
and will do.

Any one who has even a fair knowledge of the
Bible, knows that God reads and makes known the
coming events. When Nebuchadnezzar was thinking
about the days to come, God revealed to him in a
dream the whole future history of the world, in a
condensed form. Concisely and graphically, by six
bold outline strokes of the master's brush, as it were,
the whole future was painted: first Babylon; then
Medo-Persia ; next Grecia ; following that, Rome ; and
after Rome, the divided empire; and last of all, the
great stone cut out of the mountain without hand,
destroying the image, becoming a great mountain
filling the whole earth — this last a token of that ever-
lasting kingdom which God will eventually set up to
crown and end the history of the world.

All the great prophecies of the Bible — the whole
book of Revelation, for example — portray the future.
With so many of these prophecies already fulfilled.

Breaking Through the Mist

This illustrates something of the great power in the rays of

the sun, which move almost unbelievahle quantities

of water everv da v.

14a

Nebula in Ursa Major
Although it appears to be a whirling mass of light, astrono-
mers fail to find any evidence of such motion.

HIS DEFINITE FOREKNOWLEDGE 209

it is too late now for any one to say that God cannot
or does not read the future. He has outHned event
after event, and these have come true accurately and
precisely on scheduled time.

When a railroad company issues its time-table, that
is a printed promise that a given train will be at a
certain station at the appointed time. It is a promise
for the future. These promises are, in general, ful-
filled; but sometimes, because the events of the fu-
ture are unknown, the company's plans fail. The
trains do not arrive, or they come in late. It is not
this way with the promises of God. When He told
Abraham that his descendants would go down into
Egypt, and remain there a definite time, God knew
and read the future. And He revealed the future to
Abraham. "It came to pass at the end of the four
hundred and thirty years, even the selfsame day it
came to pass, that all the hosts of the Lord went out
from the land of Egypt." Ex. 12:41.

But now, as to the stars' demonstrating God's fore-
knowledge. An astronomer has said:

"If I were asked what is the greatest fact that the
intellect of man has brought to light, I would say it
was this:

"From the infancy of time, our solar system — sun,
planets, and moons — has been flying through space
toward the constellation of Lyra with a speed of which
we have no example on earth. To form a conception
of this fact, the reader has only to look at the beauti-
ful Lyra, and reflect that for every second that the
clock tells off, we are ten miles nearer to that constel-

14

210 ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE

lation. Every day that we live, we are nearer to it by
almost, perhaps quite, a million of miles. For every
sentence that we utter, for every step that we take in
the streets, we are miles nearer to this star. We ap-
proached it by tens of thousands of miles while the
writer has been penning these lines, and the reader
has been carried nearer by a thousand miles while
perusing them.

"Nothing can give us a better conception of the
enormous distance of the stars than the reflection that
notwithstanding the rapid motion, carrying unceas-
ingly forward, . . . ordinary observation would fail to
show any change in the appearance of the constella-
tion toward which we are traveling. From what we
know of the distance of Vega,' we have reason to sup-
pose that our solar system will not reach the region
in which the star is now situated until the end of a
period ranging somewhere between half a million and
a million of years from the present time." — New-
comh's "Astronomy for Everybody," pages ^2^, ^26.

But the earth will never find Vega, for Vega is also
going on its own journey, and is passing away from
its present position almost as fast as we are approach-
ing it.

What is thus true of our own sun and of Vega is
true also, so far as we know, of every star in the
heavens. They are all flying swiftly, like balls shot
from cannons. Indeed, it is a slow moving star that
does not exceed the velocity of a cannon ball. The
most common velocities are five to thirty-five miles a
second. Yes, there are two stars, one of them Arc-

HIS DEFINITE FOREKNOWLEDGE 211

turus, whose velocity is somewhere around two hun-
dred miles a second.

Yet the distances that surround these stars are so
great that their enormous velocities seem very slow
indeed. In a thousand years, if one could watch the
heavens so long, we should find no appreciable change
in the positions of the stars. They would seem to be
exactly in the same places at the end of the time as
they occupied at the first. In order to see any change
at all, we should have to take the swiftly moving
Arcturus, and observe it four thousand yeats. At the
end of that time, it would seem to have moved only
about one half of the distance shown between i and
2 in the diagram on page 150.

Let the heavens be studied on the first night after
a man is born, and again on the first night after he
has died, and no change in the relative positions of
the stars can be discerned. Yet throughout this life-
time of man, every one of those seemingly steadfast
orbs is moving so swiftly that in comparison, the speed
of an express train, the flight of a bird, or the rush
of a rifle ball, is as absolute rest. From age to age,
they speed their way through the abyss we call the
skies ; yet an old man, looking at one of them, sees
it just as he saw it when he was a little boy.

Let us get the marvelous vision of a restless uni-
verse. Stars unnumbered, millions upon millions of
shining suns, attended by planets too dark in their
reflected light to be seen by means of telescope or
revealed by camera. Though their numbers rise in
the scale of immensity we would fain call infinite, yet

212 ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE

every one of them has its ordained path in the heav-
ens, fixed and settled for eternal ages. Their path
is as definite as the track that the train runs on. But
there is one great difference between the train and the
stars. The train sometimes leaves its track and piles
up in ruin. Not so with the stars. No star ever
leaves its path. And no path ever fails a star. Be-
cause of the might of the Creator, not one of them
ever can be missing.

But there is another thing we must add to the pic-
ture. The paths of the stars are not parallel lines.
The stars are moving in many different directions,
until they seem to weave in and out, could we watch
them for ages, like a mass of bees around a hive.
The asteroids, or minor planets, between Mars and
Jupiter, are so thick, and their orbits so interwoven,
that if those orbits were wires, nobody would be able
to untangle them. Yet the astronomer sees these
asteroids, every particle of star dust — for they are
not much better — keeping their places in their ap-
pointed paths, never changing from them, never col-
Hding or interfering, an object lesson close at hand
of what is taking place on a larger scale throughout
the starry universe.

But all this would be simply impossible were not
God able to read the future, and see and determine
where each heavenly body shall be in all the coming
ages, and know that they can never collide or inter-
fere with one another, or so settle to one side of the
universe as to make it overbalanced or unstable. As-
tronomers, by combining the highest knowledge gained

HIS DEFINITE FOREKNOWLEDGE 213

in several hundred years, have been able to com-
pute approximately the perturbations of the planet-
ary worlds, and to predict roughly the return of half
a score of comets; but God has computed the mutual
perturbations of millions of suns, and planets, and
comets, and worlds without number, not alone for the
times gone by, but throughout all the ages that are
yet to come. He has done this not approximately or
roughly, but with perfect and absolute precision.

The whole universe is filled with restless motion,
system after system, cluster beyond cluster, stars and
nebulae, worlds and comets, all sweeping in mighty
paths, some in reverse order to others, the motions
most complicated, the velocities most startling, of
wheel within a wheel ; and only God knows both the
end and the purpose of it all, even from the begin-
ning. All have been perfectly adjusted to time and
place, to balancing perfectly forever the great ma-
terial universe. Every globe has been weighed and
poised in space, every orbit has been measured and
given its beautiful curve. God has permitted a cer-
tain elasticity of relative position, a sort of rocking
back and forth of the system ; yet it never introduces
disorder, and it never leads to destruction. But this
flexibility of position makes the paths just so much
the more complicated, just so much harder for us to
determine, though they tax neither His wisdom nor
His power the tiniest whit.

However, let us not weave into this conception any
idea of individual fate. While the heavenly bodies
obey His will, acting as a fine piece of machinery,

214 ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE

man is differently constituted. He is a free moral
agent. He is to act as arbiter of his own destiny.
Yet God's providences are as fully prepared for man
as for the stars. As the poet declares, "Thine eyes
did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in
Thy book all my members were written, which in
continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was
none of them." Ps. 139:16.

As we view all this display of power and wisdom,
we see that it is directed to noble and beneficent ends.
God is good, and His tender mercies are seen to be
over all His works.

O pygmy soul amidst the vast immensity, lose not
heart! If all this grandeur oppresses you with the
thought of your smallness, turn away from the pro-
digious sweeps of space, and center your trembling
faith upon the cross of Calvary. There behold the
sacrifice of the Son of God, and in it the pledged
love and care of Him who observes even the spar-
row's fall.

The stars mark the mighty power and infinite wis-
dom of God; but the cross of the dying Christ marks
the love of God, His so great love that paid for a
sinner's redemption. It sets the price of a human
soul.

We may say, then, with the poet:

"Behold this midnight splendor — worlds on worlds —
Ten thousand add, and twice ten thousand more;
One soul outweighs them all, and holds the seeming vast
magnificence
Of unintelligent creation — poor!"

CHAPTER XXI

The Clock of the Universe

ETERNITY ! What a word it is, standing as it
does for unending duration! Yet, when we
come to consider our conception of duration,
we find that the mind cannot think of duration as other
than endless. For instance, if we let the mind run
back into the distant past, we cannot think to some
time when duration began, and say. This was the first
of it. The moment we thus attempt to set up a barrier,
the mind assures us that it can think of just as great
a period of duration beyond as we have previously
measured oflF. And the thought comes that if we be-
lieve that these two periods are all there is to our con-
ception of duration, we are mistaken, for the mind can
conceive of just as many of these periods as it pleases.
It can count them up into the milHons and billions;
and when it has thus grasped a new period, we care
not how long, then the imagination runs out into the
conception that all these almost measureless ages can
be taken as a new standard of measurement, and mul-
tiplied as many times as we will, and this mental

215

216 ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE

process be kept up as long as the mind can work. But
at no time have we been able to conceive of duration
as not existing. The mind can conceive of duration
only as eternal, stretching back forever, and stretching
into the future forever, without "beginning of days."

But while duration cannot be limited by any begin-
ning or end, it can be measured as it flows. That which
measures duration, we call a clock or a watch or a
chronometer, the last word meaning a measurer of
time. When we study the heavens as if they were
some gigantic clock, we find almost a promise of in-
finite duration. And this idea of the universe as a
clock is not a mere figure of speech.

A captain is navigating a ship, we will say, from
Liverpool to China. Frequently he must determine the
precise location of his ship. If he were unable to do
this, he could not find his way across the trackless
ocean. Observations of the sun give him his latitude
and tell him his local time. After he has obtained his
local time, in order to find how far he has sailed west,
he has but to find the difference between the local time
and the Greenwich time, and reduce this time to de-
grees and divisions of a degree. Having turned the
difference in time into degrees and fractions of a de-
gree, he can readily reduce it to miles and fractions
of a mile.

For example: There are 360 degrees in a circle;
hence 360 degrees measure the entire circumference
of the earth. Then one degree is one three hundred
and sixtieth of the circumference of the earth.
Roughly, the circumference of the earth is 25,000

THE CLOCK OF THE UNIVERSE 217

miles ; and one degree would be 25,000 divided by 360,
or about 69 miles, at the equator. North or south of
the equator, the circle of the earth being smaller, the
degree is smaller; so that half way from the equator
to the pole, it would be very nearly 49 miles; and at
the pole, it would be nothing. One degree of latitude
would be slightly over 69 miles, practically anywhere
the observation might be taken.

The sun completes a revolution of the earth in
twenty-four hours; hence it passes over 360 degrees
in this time. In one hour, it passes over 15 degrees;
and in four minutes, over one degree.

To ascertain the Greenwich time, the ship carries
a chronometer that has been carefully rated before
starting; and often two or three chronometers are pro-
vided, to guard against the risk of error, for an error
may be very serious. An error of even one minute
might lead the ship fifteen miles out of its course. But
we will suppose that the chronometer is correct; that
is to say, it points to twelve o'clock when the sun is on
the meridian at Greenwich. The captain makes his ob-
servation of the sun on the meridian where he is ; and
we will suppose that when he does this, the chronometer
points to three hours fifty-two minutes. This differ-
ence of time means a difference in longitude of fifty-
eight degrees. Knowing the latitude, the captain turns
to his table, and sees just how many miles there are
in a degree of longitude at his latitude. If he wishes
to translate his course into miles, he can readily do so.
But if he wishes merely to know his location, he has
but to look at his chart for the assigned latitude and

218 ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE

longitude, and he can put his finger down and say the
ship is right there.

If he fears that his chronometer is not correct, he
can test it by the clock of the universe.

Now there is such a clock, and it keeps Greenwich
time, even though the captain is many miles from
England; and he can look at the face of this clock
any cloudless night, and read the time, no matter where
he is. Then if his chronometer has lost or gained, he
can correct it by the great clock of the universe. What
do we mean by all this ?

The face of this gigantic clock is in fact the face
of the starry heavens. The numbers on the dial are,
by this same figure of speech, the twinkling stars ; and
the hand that moves over the dial is nothing but the
moon itself.

When the captain desires to test his chronometer,
he measures the distance of the moon from a certain
neighboring star. He discovers, perhaps, that the
moon is three degrees from some star; and in the
nautical almanac, he finds the Greenwich time when
the moon is three degrees from this star. Comparing
this with the indications of the chronometer, he finds
the required correction.

There are other indications which cause us to call
the universe a clock. On all clocks, there are several
means by which we ascertain the different divisions
of time. There is an hour hand, a minute hand, and
a second hand. One division measures five minutes
by the big hand, and one hour by the small hand. One
revolution of the dial by the big hand measures an

THE CLOCK OF THE UNIVERSE 219

hour, and fractions of it ; and one revolution of the dial
by the little hand marks twelve hours, and fractions
of them. But the heavens have more devices for
measuring duration than any clock ever made by man.
Let us consider some of these.

You will find, as we consider these measurements,
that the periods of time marked by an ordinary clock
reveal the smallness of the doings of men; while the
measurements of the clock of the skies mark the great-
ness of the doings of God.

1. By the clock of the skies, one rotation of the
earth upon its axis, shown by the positions of the sun,
measures off a day.

2. One revolution of the moon about the earth gives
us the lunar month of about twenty-eight days.

3. The revolution of the earth in its orbit around
the sun gives us the year of 36534 days.

These are measurements that any one can observe
and easily understand. But there are others on a
larger scale. Some of them run into hundreds and
thousands of years.

When we consult an astronomical almanac, we no-
tice that the eclipses are given in it for a whole year.
These predictions of the lunar eclipses are reliable,
because astronomers have been carefully observing
the moon for ages, and in tracing its path thus far, are
able to project the path it will make in the future. No
wonder that the Bible calls the moon "a faithful wit-
ness in heaven."

4. There is one leading principle regarding eclipses
which is so simple that it can be easily understood.

220 ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE

For example, if we view all the eclipses in a period
of eighteen or nineteen years, we find that after this
time, the eclipses repeat themselves for another similar
period. Hence if we observe all the eclipses in a period
as indicated, then we can predict quite nearly all the
future eclipses for a long time to come, for the eclipses
will apparently repeat themselves after the stated
period of time. This period of repeating eclipses is
6,585% days. This number of days after one eclipse,
another similar one occurs. This period is called the
saros. The exact length of a saros is 6,585 days, 7
hours, and 42 minutes.

5. The sun also follows the moon's example, and
repeats its eclipses. Since the solar ecHptic is larger
than the lunar, a solar eclipse has from sixty-five to
seventy returns, occupying some twelve hundred years,
so that the sun's marking on the dial of the clock of the
skies is a period of time over one thousand years in
length. There is no such large division as this on the
dial of men's clocks.

6. There is another division of time marked by the
clock of the skies. It is indicated by the nutation or
nodding of the earth's axis. Twenty-five thousand
years are required for one wobble of the pole of the
earth; and during this time, the moon will have wob-
bled fourteen hundred times. Twenty-five thousand
years for one rotation of the pole! The large cycle
is called the precession of the axis of the earth; and
the nodding back and forth is called the nutation.

7. The major planets give us some interesting peri-
ods of time. Their revolution around the sun requires

THE CLOCK OF THE UNIVERSE 221

more time than the earth's. Mars marks off a division
on the clock of the skies by a revolution in about 687
days, or a period well along toward two of our years.
Jupiter requires 4,332 days, or something over eleven
years. Saturn's period is nearly 30 years ; that of
Uranus, more than 84 years; and Neptune's, nearly
165 years.

8. There is still another great period of time marked
off on the dial of the skies, but I cannot tell you its
length. It is the gigantic period indicated by one revo-
lution of the sun around its center, wherever that may
be. The sun is moving over ten miles a second — yes,
better than seven hundred miles a minute. It carries
all the planets of our system with it at this astounding
pace. An express train makes perhaps a mile a minute,
but the sun moves over seven hundred miles a minute.
Yet its orbit is so vastly large that astronomers cannot
detect the slightest curvature in it. The sun seems to
be moving in a straight line ; but we are sure that this
cannot be, for every path yet found for a heavenly
body is a closed orbit, unless we except some of the
comets. The great bodies of the skies move in circles
or ellipses.

How many aeons of ages it will require for the sun
once to encircle its mighty orbit, no man can say. But
the fact of such a monstrous cycle of time on the dial
of the clock of the skies tells us something of those
ages which belong to Him who "inhabiteth eternity."
From everlasting to everlasting is the measurement of
His existence ; and that which He has made shadows
forth something of the greatness of His infinite years.

222 ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE

And if we were able to measure the time required
by the sun to make one circle of the center around
which it revolves, we might find other suns that require
vastly longer periods to compass their orbits. Out
of the innumerable stars that glimmer in the heav-
ens, there are infinite possibilities for the measure-
ment of mighty cycles. Thus the clock of the universe
may ever be marking off the eternal ages of God, and
never be nearer the end than it was before.

And endless though that duration may be, God will
never change. He is the same yesterday, to-day, and
forevermore. It is from His unchanging faithfulness
that we gather our lessons of hope and trust.

And the Word declares that the one who does God's
will shall abide forever. He shall live while the sun,
hurrying on its 700 miles a minute, traverses the
mighty orbit marked out for it in the heavens, though
it may be countless millions of millions of ages of ages.
And when that time has gone by, and the sun is making
the second cycle, the child of God can say, "I still
have just as many ages to live as I had when the sun
began so long ago." And no matter how many mil-
lions of ages the circuit of the sun may require, and
no matter how many times the sun may circle this
orbit round, there has been nothing taken from the
infinite ages of the immortal life; for eternity has
never an end.

And O, to think of it, beloved, "He that doeth the
will of God abideth forever." "They that turn many
to righteousness [shall shine] as the stars forever and
ever."

CHAPTER XXII

God's Dwelling Place, Where?

ASTRONOMY has revealed almost infinite
depths to the stellar universe, stars and sys-
tems extending through space without end.
The universe is vast. Its infinitude reflects the infinity
of its Maker. God rules His universe; over and over
again we have seen examples of the might of His
sway. From His high throne, in the midst of His uni-
verse, by invisible rays of power and influence. He is
perfectly in control of it all.

Some seem to think that if God be considered as a
personal being, seated somewhere upon a throne, such
vestiture of personality and definite location divests
Him of universal presence and power. But there is
no need that it do anything of the kind.

Neither is it logical and reasonable to take the pan-
theistic idea that God can be universally present only
if He be a divine Spirit or essence merely, pervading
all things. Such a view, no matter what its exponents
may say in words, immerses God in His creation. It
drowns Him, so to speak, in His own works.

223

224 ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE

Personality is the mightiest factor in the universe.
But to say that God is not a person, as some modern
religionists do, in harmony with the teachings of pan-
theism for ages gone, is to say that we have something
infinitely greater than God has. And the reason that
the position is taken is really because the human heart
is pleased to think that there is no personal God to
whom it is responsible. As such view the subject, each
is a part of God, for all is God. And wherever such
a view has undisturbed course, it leads to the lowest
depths of moral debasement and corruption; for any-
thing that one does (thus they finally come to consider
it) cannot be wrong, because all are parts of God.
Some are already boldly teaching this, as in the follow-
ing poem :

"For all is good if understood

(Ah, could we understand!) ;
And right or ill are tools of skill
Held in His either hand.

"The harlot and the anchorite,
The martyr and the rake —
Deftly He fashions each aright
Its vital part to take.

"Wisdom He makes to guide the sap

Where the high blossoms be,
And lust to kill the weaker branch,
And drink to trim the tree,

"And holiness so that the bole

Be solid to the core.
And plague and fever that the whole
Be changing evermore.

"He strews the microbes in the lungs.

The blood clot in the brain.
With test and test He pricks the best,
Then tests them o'er again." — Bolton Hall.

The Sword and Belt of Orion

The belt is composed of the three second magnitude stars

standing obliquely on the left. The three smaller stars below

in a nearly vertical line form the sword. The center light of

the sword is the nebula.

The Spiral Nebula of Canes Venatici

Contraiy to the appearance of this photograph, there is no

detectable motion in any nebula. This fact defies

the nebular hypothesis.

GOD'S DWELLING PLACE, WHERE? 225

Terrible as are the teachings of this poem, they are
the logical result of the doctrine of evolution, which
now claims practically all the thinking world. By that
doctrine, we are developing toward perfection. For
untold ages, we are told, the cosrtios has been moving
thus. Not for ages still will it reach the highest place.
And so, as we move on, sins and crimes and diseases
and death are but parts of this cosmos process, over
which we have but little control — hence each one is
"a law unto himself." Sin, after all, is not really sin,
but part of the creational process. Crime is not really
crime, but a relic of our imperfect state. And all this
is sheer heathenism — essentially the same that the
heathen have taught and believed, but in a form to
adapt itself to the times and the present state of gen-
eral knowledge. But its spirit is, to forget a pure
and holy and all-powerful God. And if it fully ac-
complish its purpose, the world is lost.

True, there is but one power in the universe. But
the Bible teaches that all God's creatures have the
right and the divine endowment of free moral agency.
Truly, in this they are made in the very image of God.
But some of God's creatures have taken the illogical,
unreasonable, and unnatural position to will against
God, to pervert for selfish ends His power and in-
fluence intrusted to them — that is to say, to take the
materials with which they were to build Paradise, and
instead build their Sodoms and their Babylons.

Mysterious as sin may seem to be, it will finally be
fully seen to be without excuse. God gave no occasion
for it, and in no sense is He its author or originator.

15

226 ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE

If we read the Bible, inevitably, in following its
teachings, we shall learn that God is a personal be-
ing. We shall see, it is true, that the whole creation
is dependent upon Him, but in no sense is He de-
pendent upon it. To see this, we need read only the
following :

"Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the founda-
tion of the earth; and the heavens are the works of
Thine hands: they shall perish; but Thou remainest;
and they all shall wax old as doth a garment; and as
a vesture shalt Thou fold them up, and they shall be
changed : but Thou art the same, and Thy years shall
not fail." Heb. i : 10-12.

Thus in one scripture are announced most clearly
God's eternity, His priority over the creation, and His
independence of it; also we discover the transient
element there is in it, and that by it He is wholly un-
affected. He is revealed as the eternal, unchangeable,
omnipotent One.

Nevertheless He is the personal God. No other sug-
gestion comes to us from the Bible. He sits upon the
throne of power. This is the Bible conception.

Say some: "This limits God. He is thus restricted
to a given area. It does not agree with the idea of
His omnipotence and omnipresence."

But the Bible clearly teaches us that God is present
everywhere by His Spirit and His power. Thus David
presented it. (Ps. 139:1-16.) And when Christ
promised His presence with the disciples, it was to be
by means of the Holy Spirit. (John 14: 16-18.) But
though He was thus to be with them to the end of

GOD'S DWELLING PLACE, WHERE? 227

the world (Matt. 28:20), He was for all of this still
seated on the throne of the universe, at the right hand
of God (Heb. 8:1; Acts 7:56).

Since God, then, has a definite dwelling place,
though present everywhere by His Spirit and power,
it is but natural that one should wonder where that
place may be.

We would naturally conclude that God's abode is
at the center of His universe. He is seated at the
place of control. The earth and the other planets of
our system revolve around the sun; the sun is at the
center, or point of control. The moon revolves around
the earth; the earth is at the center of the moon's
revolutions, at the point of power and control. The
sun, we know, has a path through the heavens; and
we naturally believe that for it there is somewhere
a center, a point of control. This center for our
sun may be some other gigantic sun around which it
swings. But whether our sun is the last of the series,
or if there is another, then either our sun, or that
other sun, central for our sun, must revolve around
the great final center where God controls all.

More than one astronomer has risen to the idea
that there is a center for the vast universe revealed
to us in the study of astronomy. For example, a
skillful and careful astronomer named Maedler, when
employed at the observatory of Dorpat, in Russia, put
forth the idea, in 1846, that there exists some central
point in the universe, around which the sun, with its
bevy of planets and comets, revolves in the course of
millions of years. As a result of his study of this

228 ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE

question, it seemed to him that this center of gravity
for the universe, this central sun for the great cosmos,
was somewhere in the direction of the Pleiades; and
he actually chose Alcyone, one of the Pleiades, as
possibly the central sun.

Astronomy is as yet in its infancy. In order that
the truth or the falsehood of such a speculation may
be verified, the path of the sun and that of each of
the stars must be watched for years, until the circles
they make are manifest; and then perhaps it will be
possible to find the center, the common center, if such
there is, of all their orbits. Astronomy has not yet
gone far enough to perform such a gigantic task.
Ages perhaps would be needed to do this.

But astronomers have demonstrated that the stars
are in motion; and if time were given them — ages
possibly — they might determine the actual paths or
orbits of enough of the stars to be able to discover
the center of them all. We cannot expect it in our
time, however. "All that can now be said is that
the solar system is moving towards a point near to
the bright star Alpha Lyrae with a velocity of about
twelve miles per second. It will require some years
yet to reach final values. So far as we know, the
solar motion is uniform and in a straight line." —
Holden's "Astronomy," page 406.

Its path seems to be a straight line because its orbit
is so large, and because all we may observe for years
is so very small a part of the whole that we can detect
no variation from a straight direction. But all the
paths of heavenly bodies so far measured lead us to

GOD'S DWELLING PLACE, WHERE? 229

the conclusion that the paths of all the suns, or stars,
must be circles, ellipses, or other forms of closed
orbits, with somewhere a center appropriate for their
movements.

Every analogy teaches that creation is centered ; and
to think that there can be other center than the Creator
Himself, is irrational. He is the central source from
whom flow all life and power and blessing. Of Him
General Mitchel has said: "At His bidding, every
planet, and satellite, and comet, and the sun himself,
fly onward in their appointed courses. His single
arm guides the millions of sweeping suns, and around
His throne circles the great constellation of unnum-
bered universes."

Whether our sun revolves directly around the great
center of the universe, or around some other star or
stars that in turn circle the center of infinity, we cannot
say ; but the conclusion is irresistible that there is such
a center for the universe, and that there God controls
and guides all things.

We may not be able to demonstrate these things
now ; but in the ages to come, fields of knowledge and
power will be opened to the redeemed that will clear
up every mystery. "All the treasures of the universe
will be open to the study of God's redeemed. Un-
fettered by mortality, they wing their tireless flight to
worlds afar, — worlds that thrilled with sorrow at the
spectacle of human woe, and rang with songs of glad-
ness at the tidings of a ransomed soul. With unutter-
able delight the children of earth enter into the joy
and the wisdom of unfallen beings. They share the

230 ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE

treasures of knowledge and understanding gained
through ages upon ages in contemplation of God's
handiwork. With undimmed vision they gaze upon
the glory of creation, — suns and stars and systems,
all in their appointed order circling the throne of
Deity." — ''Great Controversy," page (5//.

"Suns and stars and systems, all in their appointed
order circling the throne of Deity." This is the mar-
velous conception. It is the grand and final thought in
all study of astronomy. More than one astronomer
has felt the force of the generalization, and has risen to
the conception, and has attempted to verify, by as-
tronomical observation, what he believed to be true.

Gifted with more than mortal sight, from the van-
tage point of such a center, one might see how —

"Below lay stretched the universe.
There, far as the remotest line
That bounds imagination's flight,
Countless and unending orbs
In mazy motion intermingled,
Yet each fulfilled immutably
Eternal nature's law.
Above, below, around.
The circling systems formed
A wilderness of harmony;
Each with undeviating aim,
In eloquent silence, through the depths of space,
Pursued its wondrous way." — Shelley.

From such a viewpoint, we could see stars by the
million. "They are strewn through endless space like
the blinding snowflakes of a Western blizzard. They
are as thick as the leaves of an earthly forest."

As we contemplate it, we say:

"This is a wondrous sight,
And mocks all human grandeur."

GOD'S DWELLING PLACE, WHERE? 231

We now raise the question, Is there any portion of
the heavens discovered by astronomers, that in any
sense suggests a fitness to be the dwelHng place of
Deity? We answer that there is one, and only one,
which at all meets the conditions, and this is the con-
stellation Orion.

The astronomer Garrett P. Serviss one evening was
watching with a friend the matchless spectacle of
Orion advancing to the meridian, when his companion
suddenly turned to him and remarked:

"Is there not some vast mystery concealed in that
part of the heavens? To me, at least, it seems so;
for I can never shake off the impression that the crea-
tive power which made the universe lavished its richest
gifts upon the locality in and surrounding Orion."

And Serviss argues for the same thing. We quote
his words :

"The same thought has doubtless occurred to hun-
dreds of others while gazing upon that star-bedight
region. The heavens are not everywhere alike, any
more than is the face of the earth. One of the greatest
charms that draws the stargazer to his nightly enter-
tainment, is the astonishing diversity of the views in
various directions.

"On earth we do not find diamonds or rubies in all
countries. They are confined to certain localities, such
as the diamond fields of South Africa, and the gravels
of Burma. In a similar way. there are particular lo-
calities in space where not only do specially brilliant
stars throng together, but where those stars possess

232 ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE

peculiarities of their own which serve to rank them by
themselves.

'The region about Orion is perhaps the most won-
derful of these apparently favored places. Spectro-
scopic analysis, as well as the general appearance of
the lucid stars in that part of the sky, warrants their
being thus set apart under the specific denomination
of the 'Orion stars.'

''It is the part of the visible universe to which one
would most willingly pay a visit if human personality
could quit this Httle earth; just as we are drawn to
that side of a garden where the magnificence of the
flowers shows that the soil is richer and its products
more abundant and splendid than elsewhere.

"This begemmed portion of the sky is roughly de-
limited by seven or eight of the finest stars in the
heavens, all of the first magnitude, and marking the
corners of an immense hexagon with Orion situated
not far from its center.

"It is a spectacle well worth looking at, and one that
requires the use of no optical instrument whatever.

"The northernmost point of the great hexagon is
indicated by the beautiful milk-white star Capella in
the constellation Auriga. At the northwest corner
shines the rose-red Aldebaran, in the Hyades, on the
forehead of Taurus. The southwest corner is illumi-
nated by Rigel, the gleaming white star in the foot of
Orion. Then, over in the southwest blazes and scin-
tillates the imperial Sirius. Above Sirius is Procyon,
slightly yellowish white; and above Procyon, at the
northeast corner, are the Twins, Castor and Pollux,

GOD'S DWELLING PLACE, WHERE f 233

which, although individually inferior in brightness to
the others, reinforce one another by their appearance
of companionship. Not far from the center of the
hexagon shines the orange-colored star Betelgeuse, in
Orion's shoulder; and below that, in the direction of
Rigel, appears the row of three equal stars in Orion's
belt, as attractive to the eye as so many brilliant dia-
monds set at regular distances apart upon the golden
bar of a brooch.

"Photography has shown that the middle portion of
this region, including the whole constellation of Orion,
is enmeshed with mysterious loops and laces of nebu-
lous cloud. For the possessor of a telescope there is
here intellectual entertainment for many an evening;
while those who look with the naked eye alone find the
display magnificent beyond description. There is not
one of the great stars that have just been named that
is not incomparably mightier than our sun. It is an
education to gaze and meditate upon that Golconda
of the heavens."

It is not difficult to find statements from astronomers
regarding the primacy of Orion as the one grand
spectacle of the skies.

"The brilliancy of the stars in Orion, the conspicu-
ous belt, and the telescopic objects which it contains,
alike render this group remarkable, and place it per-
haps at the head of the constellations." "We have
already stated that the great nebula in the constella-
tion of Orion is one of the most interesting objects in
the heavens. It is alike remarkable whether we look
at its size or its brilliancy, the care with which it has

234 ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE

been studied or the success which has attended the
efforts to learn something of its character. . . . Even
whole volumes have been written which treat of noth-
ing else." — Ball's ''Story of the Heavens," page 434.
'The Encyclopsedia Britannica" calls it "one of the
most remarkable nebulae." Another writer names it
"supreme in the glittering skies of our northern win-
ter," and further remarks, "The telescope does not re-
veal in all the heavens a more wonderful object than
the great nebula lying just below Orion's belt." ("The
Stars in Song and Legend," chapter on Orion.) An-
other says, "One of the most remarkable and brilliant
nebulae." ("The Beauty of the Heavens," page 93.)
Another writer declares: "All other irregular nebulae
sink into insignificance compared with that shown by
an opera glass as a silvery patch round one of the stars
in Orion's sword. This extraordinary object (M 42)
has been under effective observation for 250 years,
and during the last eighty has been monographed,
mapped, measured, figured, and photographed with a
diligence worthy of its preeminence." ("The System
of the Stars," page 264.) "The New International En-
cyclopedia" says of Orion, "It is the most brilliant of
the constellations;" and "The Encyclopaedia Britan-
nica" remarks that "Orion is one of the most conspicu-
ous constellations;" while Ball says of it: "The very
splendid nebula in Orion, which is one of the most
glorious objects that can be seen in a telescope." "The
great nebula in Orion is known to be the most glorious
body of its class that the heavens display." ("In the
High Heavens," pages 214, 236.)

GOD'S DWELLING PLACE, WHERE? 235

Flammarion says: "Let us do homage to the mag-
nificent Orion, most splendid of all the constellations.
... It is indisputably the most striking figure in the
sky, and with the Great Bear, the most ancient in his-
tory, the first that was noticed : both are referred to in
the ancient texts of China, Chaldea, and Egypt. . . .
One of the most magnificent in the entire heavens,
Orion is not merely the most imposing of the celestial
figures, it is also the richest in sidereal wonders."

The foregoing quotations should certainly settle the
preeminence of Orion as to splendor and attractive-
ness. There are some remarkable things yet to be said
about it, which we reserve for another chapter.

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CHAPTER XXIII

The Open Space in Orion

A WOMAN who was not an astronomer — who,
on her own confession, did not remember ever
having looked into an astronomy — neverthe-
less used an expression regarding the nebula in Orion,
that requires a great deal of astronomical lore to ex-
plain. It happened near the close of the year 1848.

This writer was describing the events that will take
place under the seventh vial of God's wrath as pre-
dicted in Rev. 16 : 17-21. At that time, when the voice
of God sounds from the throne, there will be a mighty
earthquake, and "the sun, moon, and stars will be
moved out of their places. They will not pass away,
but be shaken by the voice of God. Dark, heavy clouds
came up, and clashed against each other. The atmos-
phere parted and rolled back; then we could look up
through the open space in Orion, whence came the
voice of God. The holy city will come down through
that open space." — "Early Writings/' page 41.

We quote the above primarily for the expression
"the open space in Orion."

236

THE OPEN SPACE IN ORION 237

Now, let us delve into the science of astronomy with
reference to this matter, and see if the term is due to
ignorance. Possibly there is more science in the ex-
pression than some learned astronomers have guessed.
And finally, if this writer is to be taken to task for
using such words, then astronomers themselves should
clean house; for some of them have been guilty of
similar words, or words even more emphatic.

What is "the open space in Orion" ? Is it that which
was suggested by Huyghens of the seventeenth cen-
tury? He is supposed to have discovered the nebula
in 1656. It struck its distinguished observer with
amazement, as something totally different in its nature
from those sidereal aggregations of which nebulous
objects had hitherto been found to consist. 'The as-
pect of the heavens around this nebulous light was
intensely black, a circumstance which suggested to
Huyghens the idea of the phenomenon's being occa-
sioned by looking through an aperture in the heavens
into a luminous region beyond." ("History of Physi-
cal Astronomy," by Robert Grant, page 563.) Or as
another astronomer puts it, "Even Huyghens, the dis-
coverer, . . . was already of the opinion that in view-
ing it we saw, as it were, through an opening into a
region of Hght." ("The Universe of Suns," Richard
Proctor, quoting from Herschel.) I believe that Huy-
ghens's own words, describing his sensations, were, "a
curtain opening, through which one had a free view
into another region, which was more enlightened."

But this is not the idea to be conveyed by the ex-
pression, "the open space in Orion." The sky is not

238 ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE

like a solid wall, and the nebula a sort of curtain-like
opening- into another room, so to speak — a place better
lighted.

The ancient heathen writers, ignorant of astronomy
and of the nature of space, supposed the sky to be a
huge crystal dome. They thought that lightning was
a momentary opening through the wall of this dome,
disclosing the fiery ether beyond. Huyghens seems
to have adapted his idea of the nebula to this notion
of the ancients, apparently thinking that the nebulous
light was an opening through the darker areas of space
into one more enlightened.

There is no doubt that the nebula is an area more
enlightened; but we do not see it through an opening,
for all space unoccupied by heavenly bodies is open
space. No; there is a deeper meaning than any of
this in the expression, "the open space in Orion."

To understand the term, let us consider conditions
in other parts of the heavens quite similar to those in
Orion. From a three-volume book on astronomy, I
quote words describing an interesting incident in the
lives of two of the greatest of modern astronomers.
It throws light upon the question under consideration.
To quote :

"Though we talk of the 'starry' heavens, and espe-
cially associate the Milky Way with the idea of stars,
yet it must be remembered that there exist in the
Milky Way certain places which seemingly are abvSO-
lutely devoid of stars. When Sir John Herschel was
preparing for his well-known expedition to the Cape
of Good Hope in 1833, his aunt Caroline Herschel

THE OPEN SPACE IN ORION 239

wrote and requested him to pay particular attention to
the tail of the Scorpion, because Sir William Herschel
had been much struck with the absence of stars there
and with the altogether abnormal disposition of the
nebulous matter which exists there.

"Sir John, writing to his aunt on June 6, 1834, re-
plied that he had examined parts of the constellation
Scorpio as requested, and that he had found many
clusters of stars, and a nebula of remarkable shape.
His aunt, in thanking him, said: 'It is not to clusters
of stars that I was referring. One night your father,
after a long and painful silence, cried out, Hier ist
wahrhaftig ein Loch im Himmel [Here is truly a hole
in the heavens] ; and after having dwelt a long time
on it, he left it, not knowing what to make of it.' On
the strength of this statement, Sir John Herschel seems
to have returned to the subject, with the result that
he found, in the following, patches of sky absolutely
devoid of all stars.

R.A.

Decl.

h. m.

0 /

16 15

—23 56

16 19

26 3

16 23

24 25

16 26

24 14

16 27

— 24 0

Ultimately it would seem that he found no fewer than
forty-nine such void spaces." — "The Starry Heavens/'
Chambers, volume 3, pages no, in.

The cut used by Chambers in connection with the
paragraph quoted, aptly shows the remarkable condi-

240 ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE

tion in the nebula which caused "the founder of mod-
ern astronomy" to use the expression, "a hole in the
heavens."

The picture makes it appear almost as if some
mighty sun or heavenly globe had torn through the
nebula, leaving the opening behind.

Thinking this problem out, Sir John Herschel gave
his views of the matter in the following words: "In
the Coalsack (near a Crucis), a sharply defined oval
space free from stars, it would seem much more prob-
able that a conical or tubular hollow traverses the whole
of a starry stratum, continuously extended from the
eye outwards, than that a distant mass of compara-
tively moderate thickness should be simply perforated
from side to side." — ''Outlines," section ygs, page 5J^.

Because of this suggestion from Herschel, we find
Humboldt writing of the same phenomenon as follows :

"William Herschel's consideration of wholly starless
regions in Scorpio and Serpentarius, and which he has
termed 'openings in the heavens,' led me to the idea
that the starry strata, lying behind one another in such
regions, may be less dense, or wholly interrupted, and
that our instruments being insufficient to penetrate to
these last strata, 'we look into the remote regions of
space as through tubes.' " — "Cosmos,'' volume 4, pages

34^> 349-

In the first volume of his "Cosmos," Humboldt
speaks in a quite similar strain. I quote : "If we pic-
ture to ourselves the telescopic stars lying behind one
another, these starless regions in Scorpio and Serpen-
tarius may, I think, be regarded as tubes through which

• .^-««.ft^^.^

Saturn Rising
As this planet might be seen from its nearest moon.

The Firmament of Saturn Illuminated by Its Ring
Saturn is about 885,000,000 miles from the sun. Its year is
almost thirty of ours, and consists of 25,217 Saturn days. If
it has seasons, they each last over seven years. The ring of
Saturn has three parts, supposed to consist of relatively small
particles rotating about the planet.

16a

AiK IN Motion Exerts Tremendous Powj

THE OPEN SPACE IN ORION 241

we may look into the remotest depths of space. Other
stars may certainly lie in those parts where the strata
forming the canopy are interrupted, but these are un-
attainable by our instruments." — "Cosmos," volume i,
pages 142, 143.

And the author of a life of William Herschel has
referred to this matter in most striking terms.

"The Maker, Governor, and Upholder of all these
worlds and universes is one and the same. Who He
is, what is His central seat of power, no telescope, no
glass prism, can reveal. Amid the wonders of infinite
space and time, our standards of measurement and
knowledge may be said to be our five senses; and if
one of these, sight, were taken from us, our sphere of
knowledge would be immeasurably reduced in extent.
On the other hand, an addition to the senses we have,
a quickening of the inner light, might reveal this
Builder of worlds, His palace, His living armies, with
a distinctness, a fullness, hitherto unknown. Herschel
evidently thought this when he stood in wondering awe
before the hole in the heavens." — "William Herschel
and His Work," by James Sime, M.A., F.R.S.E.

We see, therefore, that some of the nebulae have the
peculiarity of an open space in them ; and Orion is one
of these. But the open space in Orion has a signifi-
cance of its own.

Thus these men of science have used expressions
that debar any adverse criticism of Mrs. White's
term "the open space in Orion."

As has been explained by these astronomers, we
may speak of an opening in the nebula of Orion. It

16

242 ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE

is situated, however, just where one might least expect
to find it; namely, in the middle and brightest part of
the nebula. This portion contains apparently six or
more stars, four of which are so mutually related as
to mark the corners of a rude square or trapezium.
Of this interruption in the nebula. Sir John Herschel
has said, *lt is remarkable, however, that within the
area of the trapezium no nebula exists." ("Outlines,"
page 609, "Observation at the Cape of Good Hope."

Not only is there an opening in the nebula at this
place, but the whole nebula itself is conical or concave,
with the larger rim directed nearly toward the earthly
observer. I quote regarding this :

"The multiple star Orionis forming the trapezium
might be called the foundation stone of the edifice.
All the lines of its architecture are laid down with ref-
erence to it; and intimate physical associations of the
stars with the gaseous stuff surrounding them has
been spectrographically demonstrated by Sir William
and Lady Huggins, and amply ratified by Professors
Frost and Adams.

"Surrounding the trapezium in the brightest of the
nebula, . . . emanations (or what seem such) from
. . . [this] core stretch away in wide curves to form
outlying portions of the nebula.

"The whole fabric of the nebula is concave towards
an axis passing the trapezium in a northeasterly and
southwesterly direction." — "The System of the Stars."

The interruption or break in the nebula around the
multiple star or the trapezium has been noted by New-
comb. He says :

THE OPEN SPACE IN ORION 243

"The most remarkable feature connected with the
nebula of Orion is the so-called trapezium. . . . That
these four stars form a system by themselves cannot
be doubted. The darkness of the nebula immediately
around them suggests that they were formed at the
expense of the nebulous mass." — ''The Stars/' pages
t8o, i8i.

We have already quoted the statement of one writer
to the effect that apparently emanations stretch away
from the trapezium, the core, as it were, of the nebula,
in wide curves, to form the outlying portions. An-
other speaks of this as "the nucleus of a far-spreading
spiral formation, probably an outlier of the Milky
Way." ("Nelson's Encyclopaedia," article "Orion.")

Ball, in his "The Story of the Heavens," admits that
"there seems to be an empty space in the nebula sur-
rounding the multiple star." (Page 455.)

Putting all these statements together, if human ob-
servation is worth anything at all, the nebula in Orion
is like a huge funnel, so to speak, with the larger
opening toward us, and the tube-like portion termi-
nating in the region of the trapezium. All this will ap-
pear quite clear before we close the chapter.

But let us digress for a moment to discover, if we
can, what nebulas are.

Astronomers now believe that the nebulae are clouds
either of fine particles, or of a gas. The light given
out is something entirely outside man's experience.
Astronomers are puzzled as to its origin and condi-
tions. Some suppose this Hght to be cold light, giving
out no more heat than does interstellar space, which

244 ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE

is several hundred degrees below zero. Others sug-
gest that the light is due to the heat of fine solid parti-
cles, and that therefore there is sensible warmth, or
even great heat, in the nebulae.

"This titanic mass of pearly light — whence its ori-
gin? If it is a 'cold light,' a luminosity not due to
heat, as in the case of the firefly, then the mystery is
beyond any solution in the present power of science.
If due to heat, then the quantity of heat must be as
great as that of millions of white-hot suns." — Profes-
sor Larkin, of Mount Lowe Observatory.

Another writer on astronomy has something inter-
esting to say regarding the appearance of the Orion
nebula :

*'We are looking at some gaseous material of a blu-
ish [some say greenish] hue. The light with which
it glows is no reflected sunlight. The nebula is indeed
indebted to no foreign source for that weird — I had
almost said ghostlike — radiance which it gives forth.
The light comes from the nebula itself. But how, it
may well be asked, should a purely gaseous substance
be able to radiate forth light? It is easy for us to
comprehend how stars or suns or comparatively solid
bodies can, in virtue of their tremendous temperature,
glow with heat like red-hot or white-hot iron. It is
true that flame is gas in an incandescent state ; but in
flame, a vehement chemical union of oxygen with some
other substance is in progress, and this is the source
of the heat and the light that flame gives forth. We
cannot regard the great nebula in Orion as originating
in anything resembling flame." — Sir Robert BaU.

THE OPEN SPACE IN ORION 245

"The nebula is a luminous body, but ordinary gas
is invisible. We do not see the gases which surround
us, and which form the atmosphere in which we live.
How, then, if the nebula consisted merely of gaseous
matter, would we see it shining on the far-distant heav-
ens ? A well-known experiment may suffice to remove
this difficulty. We take a tube containing a very small
quantity of some gas: for example, hydrogen, which
is usually invisible: no one could tell that there was
any gas in the tube, or still less could its character be
known; but pour a stream of electricity through the
tube, and instantly the interior begins to glow with a
violet light. What has the electricity done in this ex-
periment? Its sole effect has been to heat the gas. It
is, indeed, merely a convenient means of heating the gas
and making it glow. We do not see the electricity, it
is rather the gas heated by the electricity. We infer,
then, that if the gas be heated it becomes luminous.
It does not burn in the ordinary sense of the word ; no
chemical change takes place. The tube contains ex-
actly the same amount of hydrogen after the experi-
ment that it did before. It glows with heat just as
red-hot iron glows. If, then, we could believe that in
the great nebula in Orion there were vast volumes of
rarefied gas in the same physical condition as the gas
in the tube while the electricity was passing, then we
should expect to find that this gas would actually glow.

'To settle the question as to the real nature of the
nebulae, we must call in the aid of that refined method
of investigation known as spectrum analysis. . . . The
spectrum of a gaseous nebula is a remarkable sight.

246 ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE

Instead of the continuous band of colors, crossed by
dark lines, which is characteristic of the spectrum of
a star, the visible nebular spectrum consists of seven
bright lines. Three of these lines correspond to the
spectrum of hydrogen ; a fourth was formerly thought
to be due to nitrogen. This is now shown to be er-
roneous, the nature of this line and of the remaining
lines being not known." — "The Story of the Heavens,"
pages 461, 462.

If you were privileged nightly to scan the heavens
with even a small telescope, you would sooner or later
meet one of the remarkable celestial objects which are
known as nebulae. They are faintly cloudy spots, or
stains of light, appearing very vivid when outlined
against the black background of the night sky. There
are very few of these visible to the naked eye, and
then only to those who understand what they are ob-
serving ; they look so much like an ordinary star.

The nebulae are much in appearance like bright white
clouds, but they should not for a moment be con-
founded with them. Clouds are to be found only in
the atmosphere ; but nebulae are immersed in the depths
of space. Clouds shine by the light of the sun which
they reflect to the eye ; but nebulae shine by their own
light. Clouds are ever changing and disappearing;
but the nebulae remain unchanged. Clouds are far
smaller than the earth ; but the smallest nebulae known
to us are not only larger than the earth, but incompar-
ably larger than the sun itself. Clouds are near, at
most but a few miles away ; but the nebulae are many
millions of miles away from us.

THE OPEN SPACE IN ORION 247

The systematic study of the nebulae began with the
gigantic labors of William Herschel at Slough. He
determined to make a complete survey of the entire
heavens, and to note all the objects of interest he could
detect. To one not familiar with the use of a tele-
scope, this may not seem to be much of a task; but a
few facts will make clear the great labors necessary.

Persons looking through the telescope for the first
time, expect to see all the sky as observed by the un-
aided eye; but while the telescope makes a small area
look larger, only a small part of the sky is within the
field of the telescope.

For example, even a large telescope can take in only
one half the area of the moon at one view. To see all
of the moon, it is necessary to move the instrument up
and down and to the right and the left a little.

You know that the moon occupies only a small por-
tion of the sky; yet, small as it is, the telescope can
take in at one view only about one half of it. Suppose
the heavens within our view to be covered over with
moons close together. They would make of our north-
ern sky a mosaic containing about one hundred and
twenty-five thousand moons. As a good telescope
could show but one half of each moon at a view, there
would be about two hundred and fifty thousand sepa-
rate fields of view for the telescope.

Thus you will see that Herschel set out to look at a
quarter of a million separate spots in the heavens, to
note everything of interest within sight, and to make
suitable notations of them, with exact location of each
object.

248 ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE

He chose the long, fine winter nights, when the stars
were shining brilHantly. Herschel stood at the eye-
piece of the telescope while the panorama of the sky
moved slowly across the field of his telescope. By
this means, he examined a strip of the sky as wide as
his instrument with each rotation of the earth. All
that was necessary to obtain a new strip for view was
to elevate or lower the glass slightly, and the rotation
of the earth rolled a new strip across his glass.

"As to the constitution of the nebula in Orion. We
see that it consists in part of stars, making up, perhaps,
in number for their deficiency in size. These stars
are bathed in and surrounded by a stupendous mass of
glowing gas, partly consisting of that gas which enters
so largely into the composition of our ocean, namely,
hydrogen. The wide distribution of this substance, the
lightest of all the known elements, is one of the most
striking facts in the material constitution of the uni-
verse."— ''The Story of the Heavens," pages 461, 462.

The nebula in Orion is one of the most remarkable
in the heavens. Ever since the beginning of astro-
nomical research, it has been viewed with increasing
interest. It has elicited the admiration of all who have
had the privilege of seeing it, and the awe of all who
have ever gained even a slight intimation of its dis-
tance and magnitude.

The nebula is the most beautiful in the entire sky.
By means of photographs, and the larger lenses of
modern telescopes, it is found to extend much farther
out into space than was at first supposed. Streamers
of light have been observed that before were unseen

THE OPEN SPACE IN ORION 249

and unknown. There is a vast network of glittering
light, a robe of majestic glory laden and bedecked with
gems of stars.

In all ordinary telescopes, the nebula of Orion looks
like a mere flat surface. The writer has seen it many
times, and has observed its cloud-like light, its soft
and tender glow, and has been astounded at its appar-
ent enormous size, the great expanse of space which
it evidently occupies.

Now, the eye cannot store the energy exerted by
light. The moment we take our eye off the object, the
image disappears. The eye can respond only moment
by moment to the energy of light as it is received.
This is not the case with the modern exceedingly sen-
sitive photographic plates. They store light energy
during all the time that they are exposed. Thus the
light piles up in its effect upon the sensitive film. All
the light that comes to it from a heavenly body is con-
centrated upon the plate, and produces a cumulative
result after several hours of exposure. By this means,
objects are revealed, effects are produced, of which the
eye is entirely unconscious.

A few years ago Edgar Lucien Larkin, director of
the Mount Lowe Observatory, announced that there
was an opening into the nebulous matter of Orion.
From an article he then wrote for the Signs of the
Times Magazine, I quote some most remarkable state-
ments, which give us the last word upon "the open
space in Orion" :

"The reader is invited to come along with me and
help to sink a sounding line into the most appalling and

250 ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE

amazing deeps of interstellar space, and to aid in the
exploration of a huge cave, depth, or recess in the
nebula in the constellation Orion.

"Recent photographic transparencies made on glass
plates at the Mount Wilson Observatory reveal the op-
tical property of perspective. What has all along ap-
peared to be a flat surface of nebulous matter, the
beautiful shimmer and sheen in the great nebula in
the sword of Orion, is shown, in the central regions
of these negatives, to be the mouth of a cavern, a deep
opening receding into the mighty distance beyond.
These large negatives, taken by means of the great
concave mirror,, five feet in diameter, — the largest in
the world, — actually show depths below the shining
surface of the nebula, the effect being that the eye
looks into the opening and along the apparent sides
to the rear."

"The wintry months are here. Orion rises early
in the evening, displaying splendid and regal robes of
night, garments of cloth of pearl and glittering dia-
monds. The nebula can be faintly seen by the unaided
eye, and better in an opera glass. Go look in the silent
hours, and summon all your mental powers, imagining
that the central region of the nebula is really the gi-
gantic opening of a cavern leading into inconceivable
depths.

"The outlying portions of the nebula are resolved,
in these transparencies, when further magnified, into
areas of streamers, wisps, sprays, filaments, and starry
lace ; and these are well seen in the great telescope up
here on Echo Mountain. But all these are less in glory

THE OPEN SPACE IN ORION 251

than the supernal vision of the interior of the cavern —
the abyss, the chasm in infinity.

"The nebula of Orion is wider in angular diameter
than the moon, whose diameter is thirty-two minutes
of arc. Cut off all outlying streamers, and treat mathe-
matically a diameter of thirty-two minutes, and the
distance and dimensions of the nebula at once sub-
merge human thought as by a flood from infinitude.

'The opening of this recess is at least fifteen minutes
of an arc in diameter ; and with this value let the mathe-
matical results obtain.

"If we look at any shining point in this nebula in a
powerful telescope, and measure its position with ex-
ceeding accuracy by means of a micrometer, to-day,
and repeat the process six months later, a most as-
tonishing discovery will be made; namely, the two
positions are exactly the same. But the earth, during
the six months, has moved to a distance from where
it was at first of 186,000,000 miles. See what this
means. Take the same telescope to the nebula, turn
and look this way; then the diameter of the earth's
mighty orbit, a line 186,000,000 miles long, would ap-
pear to be so short that it could not be measured with
the micrometer, an instrument able to measure the
diameter of a fine hair.

"But the opening of the cave is at least fifteen min-
utes wide. How find its width in miles? This is im-
possible by measuring any shining portion of the
nebula; so we must measure near-by stars, and then
assume that the adjacent nebula is at their distance
from the earth. Some of these neighboring stars are

252 ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE

binaries, these being cases where two stars — giant
suns really — revolve around their common center of
gravity. By high and abstruse mathematical processes,
fair determinations of their distance from the earth
can be made.

"The result of a number of measures of the Orion bi-
naries is that their mean parallax is one two-hundredth
of one second of arc. Parallax means, go to a star,
look back this way, and measure the angular distance
of the earth from our sun. The linear distance is
93,000,000 miles, and the angular measurement from
these stars in Orion is one two-hundredth of one
second. Then two hundred lines, each 93,000,000
miles long, end to end, would fill out one second of
arc, or 18,600,000,000 miles. There are sixty seconds
in one minute, or 1,116,000,000,000 miles, which, mul-
tiplied by fifteen (the opening in Orion being fifteen
minutes of an arc wide), equals 16,740,000,000,000
miles. And this is the enormous width of the colossal
opening leading into the cavern.

'Then ninety thousand little rings of the dimensions
of the earth's orbit, each with a sun in the center,
could enter this abyss side by side and be engulfed.
And all these dimensions are less than the reality, with-
out doubt.

"The distance of the rear of the chasm from the
opening cannot be measured; but it must be at least
three times greater in depth than width, or fifty-one
trillion miles. But this is also the distance of the
giant sun Sirius from the earth. It and Alpha Cen-
tauri following would find ample room within this

THE OPEN SPACE IN ORION 253

cosmic deep. Torn, twisted, and distorted masses of
shining gaseous matter, adorned with myriads of
gHttering points, — starry suns, no doubt, — form the
gigantic walls; and the whole forms a scene of inde-
scribable magnificence."

We believe, then, that without question, beyond or
through this inapproachable light of Orion lie, some-
where, heaven and the throne of God. Mrs. White,
without astronomical knowledge, told something about
Orion that no astronomer of that time had yet meas-
ured up to. Now, without knowing a thing about her
statement, and probably not caring to know, they tell
us facts which bear out her statement about an "open
space in Orion."

Since what she said about Orion is now proved to
be true, it seals her further statement about the voice
of God sounding down through that zone of glory
from His eternal throne.

Orion is a wonderful spectacle to the eye of man,
even at the enormous distance from which he views it ;
but oh, what must it be to sweep through those avenues
of brilliant and radiant glory ! There is room there
for the city of the coming kingdom to pass through
in its journey to this earth, that wonder city which
John saw in holy vision, coming down from God out
of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her hus-
band ; a city having the glory of God, her light as the
flashing of one immense, magnificent diamond. (Rev.

21 :2, 10, II.)

As to the size of this cavern, or corridor, Mr. Larkin
has said:

254 ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE

"These negatives reveal the opening and interior of
a cavern so stupendous that our entire solar system,
including the orbit of Neptune, would be lost therein.
In all ordinary telescopes, the nebula looks like a flat
surface. I have watched it since the days of youth,
in many telescopes of many powers, but never dreamed
that the central region is the mouth of a colossal cave."

"Human speech is impotent. Pen of writer, brush
of artist, alike are lifeless and inert in any attempt even
to describe this interior. Mammoth Cave glories in
Kentucky, illumined by electric lights, are so beautiful
that words cannot be used in their description. What,
then, should be said of the mighty cavern in the depths
of depths of Orion's nebula? Torn, twisted, and riven
masses of shining gas, irregular pillars, columns and
stalactites in glittering splendor, and stalagmites ris-
ing from the mighty floor! The appearance is that
of light shining and glowing behind Herculean walls
of ivory or pearl, and these studded with milUons of
diamond points — shining stars."

Professor Larkin estimates that the depth of the
chasm cannot be less than fifty trillion miles. This is
the distance approximately of the bright star Sirius
from this earth. It is a distance that light, though
traveling at the velocity of 186,000 miles a second,
would take eight years to traverse. The distance may
be much more than this. It cannot be less. Truly,
then, this is an open space, and one of such size and
grandeur as to reveal the majesty of the Creator.

Indeed, therefore, the Orion nebula is an object of
interest to us all. How infinitely worthy of our study !

THE OPEN SPACE IN ORION 255

And that interest will be augmented many fold when
God's voice sounds down through the opening in that
nebula, shaking the earth, and declaring to God's
people the day and hour of Jesus' coming. Then will
come the wreck of the world. Then will come the de-
liverance of those whose names are written in heaven.
Dan. 12: 1-3.

The constellation of Orion appears about midnight
in November in the southeastern heavens. In Decem-
ber and January, it is due south about eleven o'clock.
In February, you will find it southwest about ten
o'clock. And in March and April, it is in the west,
and then sets below the horizon.

On the right of Orion, as you face it, and preceding
it, are the Pleiades. On the left, following it across
the sky, are the brilliant stars Procyon and Sirius, the
latter being the brightest star in the heavens. Orion is
a great square, with three bright stars in a row close
together near its center. Below these, three smaller
stars in a row make a sort of handle for the rake whose
teeth are the three brighter stars just mentioned. By
including another star to the right, these stars seem
to outline a kite instead of a rake.

This kite, or rake, is very readily found, as it is one
of the most conspicuous spectacles in this region. The
three upper and brighter stars in a direct line, some-
times called the three kings, compose the belt in Orion.

The three lower and dimmer stars are called the
sword of Orion. The middle star in this sword is the
nebula. Even to the naked eye, it appears blurry, or
cloudy.

256 ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE

The nebula of Orion has been described by Profes-
sor Larkin as funnel-shaped, with the opening at the
smaller end. This opening is marked by a multiple
star; and around it the nebula seems to be formed,
like the petals of a flower from its center. This re-
markable star has been named by astronomers Theta
Ononis, which means that star in Orion which in point
of brightness comes after the other stars of Orion
relatively in the same place occupied by the letter 6
(th) in the Greek alphabet. You will see, by this, that
it is not the brightest star in Orion. There are seven
stars preceding it in point of brightness. The bright-
est star of Orion, or Alpha Orionis, is the star Betel-
geuse, the upper left-hand star of the square. Beta
Orionis is in the lower right of the square, and is
called Rigel. Gamma Orionis forms the upper right
shoulder of the colossus as he faces us, and Kappa
Orionis is his left foot.

Theta Orionis is in the open space of Orion. In the
photograph, we have indicated by a white line where
to find Theta Orionis, with its surrounding open space.
Unfortunately, because of the bright light of the
nebula, brightest of all at the portion just about the
open space, the very sensitive photographic plate be-
comes fogged of much of the details easily seen by the
eye through a good telescope. To help you to gain
something of an idea of the structure of the nebula, a
reproduction of an astronomer's drawing is given. By
paying close attention, you will readily find the inter-
esting open place in the nebula. Fix your eye on the
largest, brightest part of the nebula. This bright part

Orion's Nebula as Shown by Telescopic Photography
The picture indicates the wisps and streamers of light ema-
nating from the open space, which is, as one astronomer call.'-
it, "the core" of the structure.

Cassell & Co., London.

Another View of the Nebula in Orion

This is an artist's drawing of the nebula, and gives details that

are fogged in photography. The small dark spot in the upper

portion of the brightest part of the nebula is the rude square

or trapezium. This is the open space.

THE OPEN SPACE IN ORION 257

is not much larger than an ordinary grape or raisin
seed. At the upper part of this small bright patch as
shown in the drawing is a dark portion. It is near the
margin of the bright part, but completely surrounded
by it. In the dark part, you will notice a few stars.
These are the multiple star Theta Orionis.

Of this open space or interruption in the nebula, Sir
John Herschel has said, "It is remarkable, however,
that within the area of the trapezium, no nebula exists."
("Outlines," page 609.)

That this opening has something to do in relation
to the nebula entire is evident from a close scrutiny of
its structure. The whole nebula is built about it. I
quote from a prominent astronomical writer regard-
ing this :

"The multiple star 0 Orionis might be called the
foundation stone of the edifice. All the lines of its
architecture are laid down with reference to it, and
the intimate physical association of the stars with the
gaseous stuff surrounding them, has been spectro-
graphically demonstrated by Sir William and Lady
Huggins, and amply ratified by Professors Frost and
Adams. Surrounding the trapezium is the brightest
part of the nebula. . . . Emanations (or what seem
such) from . . . [this] core stretch away in wide
curves to form the outlying portions of the nebula.
The whole fabric of the nebula is concave towards
an axis passing through the trapezium in a northeast-
erly and southwesterly direction." — "The System of
the Stars," pages 264, 26^.

17

CHAPTER XXIV

Rolled Together as a Scroll

^'F I ^HE heaven departed as a scroll when it is
I rolled together; and every mountain and is-
'*" land were moved out of their places. And
the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the
rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men,
and every bondman, and every freeman, hid themselves
in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains ; and said
to the mountains and rocks. Fall on us, and hide us
from the face of Him that sitteth on the throne, and
from the wrath of the Lamb : for the great day of His
wrath is come ; and who shall be able to stand ?"

What does this scripture mean? What is the sig-
nificance of the heaven's being removed as a scroll
that is rolled up ? Evidently some great change in the
atmosphere is indicated. Another writer describes it
in these terms : "The atmosphere parted and rolled
back." ("Early Writings," page 41.)

These expressions certainly convey the idea of an
opening of the heavens to the eye of man, not now
possible.
258

ROLLED TOGETHER AS A SCROLL 259

When we come to consider the effect of the atmos-
phere in our view of the starry heavens, we learn that
it is a matter the astronomers must take careful ac-
count of. There is more or less smoke in the atmos-
phere, or at least floating particles of dust, which
obscure the sight to some degree. There are also
strata of atmosphere of varying density. And all these
things have their part in preventing such a view of the
stars as would otherwise be possible.

One who has ever attempted to study the stars with
a telescope of larger magnitude, knows something of
the difficulty encountered in getting a proper view of
the heavens. One may have to wait night after night
for a suitable time, only to be disappointed. To the
ordinary observatory, there are comparatively only a
few nights in the year suitable for the study of as-
tronomy. Oftentimes as one looks through the eye-
piece of the telescope, waves of light affected by the
currents of air are passing across the object piece of
the telescope, causing the stars to dance in a manner
that is disconcerting and unsatisfactory. All these
things go to show that the atmosphere to a greater
or less extent obscures the vision of the heavens which
otherwise we might obtain. It is on account of the
difficulties of the atmosphere that so many astronomi-
cal observatories are located upon high mountains,
where the atmosphere is less dense, where it is more
uniform, where it is less affected by heat currents and
less obscured by the dust and smoke of the cities. In
the dry, high air of the mountains, the astronomer
carries on his studies with much less to contend with.

260 ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE

A writer on astronomy, himself a trained observer,
has made the following statement concerning the work
at one of the mountain observatories. He says :

"Who knows the meaning of the word 'clear'? No
one is able to understand what 'clear' means if living
in a valley. Here on Echo Mountain the atmosphere
is so clear that the stars seem near enough to touch,
and the mountain air wonderfully pure. The stellar
hosts glow with a brilliancy all unknown to those living
anywhere near sea level. At all times, save imme-
diately after copious rains, the dust envelope surround-
ing the earth is visible beneath the summit of the
mountain. It covers the entire vista, even out to the
sea. To us on the mountain top it seems at times as
if every human would choke in this layer of dust.

''Above us at night shine Sirius and Vega like huge
diamonds ; Arcturus and Spica likewise ; and above
all, the giant star-sun Canopus, glittering with amaz-
ing brilliancy in the distant south, and flashing its rays
over myriads of wave crests tossing in the Pacific
Ocean. This, the brightest star in the celestial vault,
cannot be seen from the latitude of New York. The
magnificent constellations of Orion, Hercules, and the
Polar Bear are so beautiful that words are powerless
to describe them. It is astonishing to behold the ap-
parent nearness of the Galaxy. Mountain perspective,
the purity of the air, and freedom from water vapor
during two thirds of the year, combine to form an
optical illusion. At times, this deceptive influence ap-
proaches a night mirage, and one seems to be walking
among the very stars.

ROLLED TOGETHER AS A SCROLL 261

''Here the 'witching hour' is at sunset, a sunset of
orange and flower laden plains, and watery wastes be-
yond. Round and about the winter solstice, the solar
disk may be seen standing on the sea. Soon half
of the mighty sphere only is visible. The last view
is comparable to an arc light. Then one by one the
first magnitude stars are seen, flashing between dis-
tant peaks. Before the last gleam of the sun has van-
ished, Aldebaran, Altair, Rigel, and Procyon illumine
the sky. . . .

"Carpet a floor with jet-black velvet, and throw
down upon it a myriad of diamonds in wild confusion,
and perhaps you may conceive how the densely packed
Milky Way appears from the observatory. 'Millions'
is a word becoming astronomically obsolete; 'billions
of stars' is an expression much more nearly true of
the Milky Way. Billions of suns appear in the in-
finite deeps of the Galaxy. These constitute the ap-
parent cosmic floor, the base of nature, and of the
stellar structure. In hundreds of areas, there does not
seem to be place for more stars. Millions are finer
than the points of needles, and these make a pavement
of starry sand.

"I never really saw this sidereal base until with the
telescope up here. After several days of rain, the at-
mosphere is swept clear of dust. Then one is really
within cosmic deeps when the telescope suddenly
sweeps over fathomless interstellar chasms, doors or
windows through which one apparently looks into the
very bottom of space. These areas are absolutely
black. No sensation within the entire range of stellar

262 ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE

research, at the hour of a mountain midnight, is so
completely overpowering as the vision of an abyss in
the stellar floor. Round and about these blackened
wastes, there are cases where the stars are piled in
heaps, raked into windrows, or strewn out into wisps,
streamers, filaments, and spray. Yet of all these
stellar hosts, the tiniest point may be a white-hot sun,
and larger than our little star — the sun. The giant
nebula of Orion is a mass of starry lace, a fabric
loaded with glittering points."

The statement is made in Scripture, that one day,
this veil will be drawn back. We cannot attempt to
say just how this obscuring veil is to be removed. Evi-
dently enough, however, it will be by the power of the
Creator. The description is that of something which
occurs with great suddenness. The heavens will be
rolled back "as a scroll," or, as the writer quoted puts
it, they will be "parted and rolled back."

Let us use an illustration: Suppose you have a roll
of tough paper. This has been rolled until, if stretched
out, it will, upon being released quickly, roll back into
its old position. Now imagine this sheet of paper held
out flat by a hand at each end. Imagine that as the
paper is thus held, it is suddenly split through the
middle. We know that the two halves will quickly
roll apart, leaving an opening between. This is the
picture drawn for us by the Word — a picture of what
is to take place on the final day.

When God said, "Let there be light," instantly there
was light. He spoke, and it was. When the Lord
commands nature, it instantly obeys Him. There is

ROLLED TOGETHER AS A SCROLL 263

no antagonistic will ; there is no opposing power from
within. It is absolutely obedient; it responds imme-
diately, obeying implicitly the creative Word. And so,
when the voice of God speaks with a power that shakes
the heavens and the earth (Heb. 12:26-28), the at-
mosphere will undergo a change that removes all its
veil-like power, its obscuring curtain effect, and we
shall seem at once to be brought closer to the shining
universe above us.

This must mean a removal, by one act of creation, of
everything in the atmosphere that interferes with sight.
There are vast quantities of watery vapor in the air
at all times. These are apparently invisible, yet they
have their part in obscuring the vision. Water may
be quickly changed into invisible hydrogen and oxygen
by the electrolytic power of electricity. By some un-
known yet possibly analogous process, all the water in
the atmosphere may be quickly removed by being-
changed into hydrogen and oxygen; or it might, by
some process unknown to us, be condensed into clouds
and moved to those portions of the atmosphere not
covering the inhabited portions of the globe. But
whatever the language under consideration may mean,
it certainly indicates a wonderful clearing of the at-
mosphere.

Just before a theatrical performance is to begin, the
curtain rises. Sometimes the curtain does not rise at
the appointed hour. The orchestra plays, but the au-
dience are not deceived. They know that the per-
formance will not begin until the curtain rises. When
the curtain rises, they know that the performance is

264 ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE

then on. Immediately the actors will appear, and the
scenes will be portrayed.

For six thousand years, this world has been a theater
to the universe and to man ; but the last great act in
the drama, at the close of the ages, involves a change
of scene. Here on earth, for thousands of years, men
have taken their parts honorably or basely, as the case
may be. God has kept silence, while men have spoken ;
God has remained invisible, while the things of time
have been ever visible. But now mankind are to be
brought in touch with the great invisible forces. They
are to view, as never before, the great world hitherto
unseen ; they are to view with astonishment, through
an open curtain, that which for ages has been veiled
from their sight.

And so, in the close of time, the great curtain of the
skies will roll back. As it does so, instinctively every
eye will look upward. Something portentous is about
to occur in the heavens. As the atmosphere parts and
rolls back, men will be brought, as it were, into the
very midst of the stars. Whereas now the light of
these celestial bodies shines to the eye of man with
broken, uncertain gleam, they will then shine with a
strong, bright light, as the eye of an avenger. Every
star will seem to come thousands of miles nearer.
What now seems far away, and vague and uncertain,
will then become thrillingly imminent. Stars now ob-
scured by the atmosphere, and therefore invisible to
the eye, will shine out with clear and steady rays, re-
vealing thousands of diamond points of light where
now there are none; and so the great universe of the

ROLLED TOGETHER AS A SCROLL 265

skies will seem all at once to increase the number of
its stars, to multiply them by hundreds and thousands,
every one nearer, shining more clearly, shining more
steadily, telling its story in a way that cannot be mis-
taken.

High in the heavens shines the great nebula of
Orion. For ages veiled to the eye of man by the at-
mosphere, it has looked like one large milky star; but
then it will be seen to be a halo of light, a shining spot
of glory. Instead of being confined to one little spot,
it will be seen to extend out, in filaments and wisps
and streamers of light, to other stars in the Orion
constellation. It will be an awful sight for him who
has reviled the idea of a God. For him who has lived
for years under the curtain of nature, it will be ter-
rible to find this curtain suddenly withdrawn, and him-
self brought face to face with the infinite riches and
glories of God's mighty universe.

But the curtain of the air will not be withdrawn for
man to view merely the stars and the nebulae. A scene
of far more, yea, of transcendent importance is about
to appear before his astonished gaze. Far away, yet
clear to the eyes of earth's inhabitants, will appear the
sign of the Son of man. At first, it will seem no
larger than a man's hand. Dark it will appear in con-
trast with the glory streaming from the heavens; but
the form will be unmistakable. Every eye will behold
it as the sign, the token, of the Son of man. Christ,
the rejected, yet the Judge of all the earth, is com-,
ing. He will be emblazoned with all the glory of His
Father ; He is coming clothed in His own transcendent

266 ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE

beauty; and with Him will be all the shining cohorts
from the courts of glory — every angel, so that there
will be silence in heaven as this mighty retinue sweeps
down from heaven to earth.

It is to enable mortals to behold this picture, that
God will withdraw the curtain of the skies. It is that
man may view unhindered the coming of the Son of
God. For ages, His word has been pledged — ''Every
eye shall see Him;" and, true to that word, every eye
will see Him.

As those who have rejected Him behold the awful
sight, they will cry for the rocks and the mountains to
fall on them and hide them from the wrath of the
Lamb, "for the great day of His wrath is come; and
who shall be able to stand?"

Even those who have accepted Him, those who have
lived for Him in the earth, and have borne their tes-
timony for the cause of righteousness, will be startled
at that awful vision of power and brightness; but
floating down to them in advance of this mighty pro-
cession from the skies will come the word of Christ,
like the notes of rarest music, ''My grace is sufficient
for thee." Strengthened by that assurance, fortified
by that power, they will be able to say: "Therefore
will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and
though the mountains be carried into the midst of the
sea; though the waters thereof roar and be troubled,
though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof."
With a shout of triumph, they will exclaim: "This is
the Lord ; we have waited for Him, we will be glad and
rejoice in His salvation."

The Fundamentals of Geology

A Book That Is Already Producing a Revolution
in Scientific Thinking

By George McCready Price, M. A.

Author of "Q. E. D., or New Light on the Doctrine of Creation;"

"A Textbook of General Science;" "Back to the Bible;"

"Yes and No about Socialism;" etc.

FEW people have ever studied geology ; and still fewer under-
stand anything about it, though they may be glib in telling
about the strange monsters that lived in the various geological
"ages." But in reality, geology is the grandest of all the natural
sciences, and is far more important than any of the others in its
bearings on philosophy and religion.

But why is it that modern geological discoveries are so out of
joint with the standard geological theories? Why is it that the
theoretical part of the science of geology has never been revised
in nearly a hundred years? Why is it that when great areas,
covering hundreds of square miles, are found with the rocks all
in the "wrong" order, — that is, with the "older" rocks above, and
the "younger" rocks underneath, — and with no physical signs of
disturbance anywhere to be seen, looking exactly as if they were
deposited in this order — why is it that a great English geologist
complains that if these rocks "had been planned for the purpose
of deception, they could not have been more skillfully devised,"
but instead of revising his out-of-date theories to fit these new
facts, this illustrious scientist declares that he ought to "be ex-
cused if he begins to wonder whether he himself is not really
standing on his head" ?

Would it not be more scientific to revise the out-of-date theo-
ries of the science, than to suppose that nature has here worked
a "frame-up" to deceive us ?

This book tells all about these things ; and in doing so, it lifts
the doctrine of a universal Deluge out of the obscurity into which
is has fallen for nearly a century, and gives it once more a re-
spectable standing as the most reasonable hypothesis by which to
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it is the only book published in the English or any other language
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the rules and methods already adopted in all the other sciences.
On this account, this book marks a turning point in modern
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giston and the epicycles of Ptolemy.

"I do not see why the argument is not scientific and demonstra-
tive. It seems to me that you have demonstrated the hopelessly
unscientific character of the hitherto accepted geological notions."
Prof. William Cleaver Wilkinson,

University of Chicago.

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more convincing on the subject. It seems to me final, so far as
the evolutionary theories and claims go."

William G. Moorehead,
Xenia Theological Seminary, Xenia, Ohio.

Cloth, 270 pages. Illustrated with engravings, charts, and maps.
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Attractive three-
color cover, ex-
cellent illustra-
tions.

m

Paper bound ;
price 25 cents,
postpaid.
(30c in Canada)

Do you know what is to become of
this old earth? Would you care
to find out? Then read this book.
Already in its third edition of
150,000 copies.

Not a fanciful story, but a logical presen-
tation of truth. Prophecy foretold the des-
tinies of the great world kingdoms. It has
also spoken regarding this earth's destiny.

History has proved the prophecies relat-
ing to the world kingdoms. How about this
earth? Read ''The World's Destiny ^

PACIFIC PRESS PUBLISHING ASSN.
Mountain View, California

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Date Due

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